Videos show the anguish of the confinement in Shanghai 5:10
(CNN) --
One of China's top leaders painted a bleak picture of the job market in the world's most populous nation as widespread COVID-19 lockdowns slow the economy.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang - No. 2 in the hierarchy of the country's ruling Communist Party - called the employment situation "complex and serious".
In a statement on Saturday, he instructed all levels of government to prioritize measures to boost employment and maintain stability.
These measures include helping small businesses survive, supporting the internet economy, providing incentives to encourage people to start their own businesses, and providing unemployment benefits to laid-off workers.
"Stabilizing employment is fundamental to people's livelihood, and it is the key support for the economy to function within a reasonable range," Li said.
His remarks come at a time when the country's unemployment rate is at its highest point in nearly two years, according to government data.
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China's economy is in decline
Every year, China needs to add millions of new jobs to keep up with the economy.
The government has set a goal of creating at least 11 million jobs in cities by 2022. But Li said in March that he hopes the economy could generate more than 13 million this year, citing the need to accommodate university graduates already migrant rural workers.
Li, who looks after China's economic management, has made repeated calls to stabilize employment in recent weeks, and his comments this weekend are a stark reminder of the cost of China's Covid-19 restrictions.
As the highly transmissible omicron variant spreads rapidly in China, the country is facing its worst outbreak in more than two years.
So far, at least 31 Chinese cities are under full or partial lockdown, which could affect as many as 214 million residents across the country, according to CNN's latest estimate.
After more than two years of the pandemic, President Xi Jinping is doubling down on his strict "zero covid" policy as the rest of the world tries to learn to live with the virus.
This policy involves mandatory mass virus testing and strict lockdowns.
Xi said Thursday that China will punish anyone who questions these policies.
The lockdowns brought the world's second-largest economy "to the brink of breaking point," according to a recent report by analysts at Société Générale.
In April, China's giant services sector shrank at the second-strongest rate on record, as the Covid-19 lockdowns hit small businesses hard.
Its manufacturing sector also contracted sharply.
The latest government data shows unemployment hit a 21-month high in March, and that was before China extended a lockdown in financial hub Shanghai and tightened restrictions in Beijing.
The unemployment rate in 31 major cities hit a record high in March.
To the kicks: Shanghai police break into a house for covid-19 case 0:51
The country's huge tech sector is also facing an unprecedented jobs crisis.
Long the main source of well-paid jobs in China, the sector is downsizing on a scale never seen before as the government continues its crackdown on the private sector.
The country's top internet regulator said last month that the sector was not in crisis, but the issue remains hotly debated on Chinese social media.
Other sectors, from real estate to education, have also suffered heavy job losses in recent months.
Beijing is aware of the economic problems and is especially concerned about the risk of mass unemployment, which would shake the legitimacy of the Communist Party.
Early last month, Hu Chunhua, China's vice premier, called for "all-out efforts" to stabilize employment.
On April 28, the Communist Party's Politburo pledged to launch "significant measures" to support the internet economy and hinted at the possibility of easing the year-long crackdown on the tech sector.
ChinaEconomy
