BEIJING -- The number of people in China covered by unemployment insurance had reached 245 million by the end of September, sources with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security have said.

The ministry will promote the coverage of unemployment insurance to vocational workers, and optimize the linkage mechanism between employment, unemployment insurance and subsistence allowances, it said.

Data from the ministry shows that in 2023, 7.3 million unemployed people nationwide received unemployment insurance benefits totaling 72.9 billion yuan (about $10.4 billion), up 13.6 billion yuan from the previous year.

The monthly per capita unemployment insurance amount came in at 1,814 yuan last year, more than double that of 2012, the data shows.

In 2023, the income of the national unemployment insurance fund reached 180.7 billion yuan, while the expenditure logged 148.5 billion yuan. At the end of last year, the cumulative balance of the fund came in at 321.3 billion yuan, with 3.52 million people receiving unemployment insurance benefits, according to the data.