Demand for workers in China's job market declined sharply from the first to the second quarter of this year, data from the country's Ministry of Human and Social Security shows. Companies in the coastal provinces of eastern China experienced the most significant decline in demand, causing even lower employee recruitment.

Analysts now say that the anticipated influx of a large number of new university graduates into China's job market means that it could come under even greater pressure.

In the 102 cities evaluated by the ministry, the ratio of job openings to job seekers quarter was 1.05 in the second, 0.03 lower than in the first quarter and 0.02 lower than the same period last year. In 83 of the 102 cities surveyed, demand for employees in Q2 decreased nearly 80,000 from Q1, a drop of 1.4%. The number of job seekers increased 74,000, a surge of 1.4%.

But this does not completely reflect the increasing pressure on the job market, as the figures seem indicate that supply and demand are balanced.

While economic growth has been slowing since the second half of 2011, the demand for labor is increasing, says Shao Yu, a macroeconomic policy analyst at Orient Securities. Over the past few quarters, the demand for employees had mainly come from manufacturing. Given that investment in the industry is declining gradually, however this demand is not likely to continue to grow.

Shao said employment is a core factor in setting government policy. If the employment situation continues to worsen, the government may be compelled to introduce large-scale stimulus policies. But since there are no signs of the situation deteriorating in the short term, the government is not expected to move just yet.