BEIJING (Reuters) - China will adopt a more proactive employment policy this year as it needs to create 15 million new jobs in 2019, an official of the human resources ministry said on Wednesday.

China’s urban registered jobless rate stood at 3.8 percent at the end of 2018, Vice Minister Qiu Xiaoping told a news conference.

At the same briefing, Xin Guobin, a vice industry minister, said authorities were still optimistic about automobile production and sales this year, despite an economic slowdown.