China's urban unemployment rate rose to 5.3 percent in the first quarter of this year, climbing by 0.3 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to figures unveiled by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

The surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.2 percent in March, falling by 0.2 percentage points from that in February, and also reflecting 5.2 percent in January, according to the NBS.

China's 31 major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in southern province of Guangdong, have kept the surveyed unemployment rate at around 5.2 percent in March.

According to the NBS, the population of migrant workers who work outside their hometowns reached about 188 million as of the end of the first quarter of this year, up 1.1 percent year-on-year.