BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A total of 2.89 million new jobs were created in China's urban areas during the first three months this year, said the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) Friday.

        From January to March, the urban unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 4.2 percent from the full-year figure for 2009, with 9.19 million people registered as unemployed, Yin Chengji, spokesman of the MOHRSS, told a press conference.

        The 2.89 million new jobs created was about 32 percent of the full-year job creation target of 9 million, Yin said.