Beijing, April 21 (IANS): Youth unemployment in the Chinese city of Shanghai has been lowered by almost 23 percent in two years, a media report said Monday.

The 23 percent drop comes from initiatives taken by city residents who organise frequent job fairs, and give direct job offers, Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau said.

Young people account for 26.5 percent of the total unemployed in Shanghai, Shanghai Daily reported.

Shanghai began measures after the number of unemployed young residents aged between 16 and 35, hit an all time high record of 80,000 in 2012

Currently, the number of young residents unemployed for more than 12 months is down 27.8 percent from 2012.

At a job fair targetted to the youth Sunday, more than 5,000 jobs were offered from 250 companies in the automobile, real estate, insurance and manufacturing industries.

The human resources and social security bureau will organise more than 1,000 job fairs this year to help more young people find employment.