BEIJING - More of the Chinese rural workforce was employed in the first half of 2015, pointing to stable employment growth and economic development, the country's human resources watchdog said Wednesday.

A total of 294,000 rural residents of 500 surveyed villages in ten workforce-intensive provinces found jobs outside their hometowns, increasing by 3,000 people year on year and by 17,000 people compared with the first quarter, according to a press conference held by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

The number of rural workers seeking jobs outside villages fell year on year in late February due to downward economic pressure and the Spring Festival holiday, but picked up in March and reached a record high by the end of June.

More rural workers chose to start their own businesses and found jobs in nearby regions thanks to the rapid growth of the service sector and government policies to support entrepreneurship, according to Zhang Ying, deputy head of the department of employment support.

The changes in employment of the rural workforce reflected stabilizing growth and economic restructuring and China will continue to keep employment stable in the second half of this year, Zhang added.