The domestic job market will face growing pressures over the next few months as global economic problems cut employment in a number of sectors, a top labor official said yesterday.

"Employment remains a major difficulty in terms of overall social development, and it faces huge pressures," Hu Xiaoyi, Vice-Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Hu Xiaoyi told a news conference at the Beijing International Media Center.

About 20 million people join the workforce every year in China, which continues to have a labor surplus, he said.