A total of 159,900 new urban jobs were created in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, from January to September, official data show.

The city ranked ninth among all cities in China in terms of its CIER index, a key indicator in China's labor market, in the third quarter of this year, according to a report jointly released by the China Institute for Employment Research (CIER) of Renmin University of China and the job-hunting website Zhaopin.com.

The unemployment rate in urban areas remained stable at 1.95 percent as of the end of September.

Meanwhile, preferential policies meant to alleviate pressure on local enterprises have bolstered local employment. In the first nine months of this year, 271,900 enterprises in the city were exempt from 15.46 billion yuan ($2.24 billion) in social security premiums, and 4,160 enterprises had applied for deferments of 935 million yuan in social security premiums.

To ensure stable production and employment during the epidemic, the city helped bring back a total of 141,300 workers from outside the city via chartered trains, buses, and planes.

Ningbo has also rolled out a series of preferential policies to encourage college graduates to seek employment or start business in the city.

From January to September, 210 million yuan in subsidies had been distributed by the local government, benefiting 42,000 college graduates, according to official data.