CHINA, until recently seen as the best hope of keeping the global economy on a growth curve, is reeling under rapidly rising unemployment, which is at its highest in 30 years.

The official urban unemployment rate has risen for the first time since 2003 as exports slump and a slowdown accelerates in the world's third-biggest economy.

Joblessness rose to 4.2% in the December, up from 4% in the previous quarter, said Yin Chengji of the Human Resources and Social Security ministry.

Beijing is preparing for unemployment to hit 4.6% this year, the worst since 1980. Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday that the government must do more to preserve social stability in the face of a “very grim” jobs outlook.

“Growth has fallen off a cliff in China in recent months,” said Paul Cavey, chief China economist at Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong. “It does already feel like a recession for a lot of people.”

China's economic growth may have cooled to 6.8% last quarter, the slowest in seven years, economists say. The official figure is due this week.