New employment positions filled in China's urban areas hit 8.51 million in the first nine months of 2009, Yin Chengji, spokesman for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said Friday at a press conference.

The figure accounted for 94 percent of the government's target of 9 million for the whole year, said Yin.

"The condition of employment is overall stable in the past months of this year," Yin told the press.

During the first nine months, 4.02 million laid-off workers in China found new jobs, accounting for 80 percent of the government's target of 5 million for the whole year.

By the end of the third quarter, 9.15 million people had registered for unemployment in urban areas, and the registered unemployed rate in urban areas was about 4.3 percent, keeping flat with the number reported at the end of the second quarter, said the spokesman.