by Calculated Risk on 2/02/2009 07:38:00 PM

This is a pretty stunning number ...

From the NY Times: Joblessness Jumps Sharply Among China’s Migrants

About 20 million of the total estimated 130 million migrant workers, whose cheap labor underpins China’s manufacturing sector, have been forced to return to rural areas because of lack of work, according to a survey conducted by the Agriculture Ministry that was cited at a briefing.

In late December, employment officials estimated that at least 10 million migrant workers had lost their jobs in the third quarter of 2008 as waves of factories and businesses shut their doors.