BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) - China's statistics bureau said on Tuesday it had suspended publication of youth jobless data, citing the need to improve methodology in the way it measured unemployment among young people, which has hit record highs in recent months.

The decision announced shortly after the release of weaker-than-expected factory and retail sales data sparked a rare backlash on social media amid growing frustration about employment prospects in the country.

Young Chinese are facing their toughest summer job-hunting season after regulatory clamp-downs in recent years left traditional sources of graduate employment -- including the property, tech and education sectors -- bruised.

The most recent NBS data on youth unemployment, published last month, showed the jobless rate jumping to a record high of 21.3% in June.

The NBS's decision was immediately mocked on Chinese social media, with a related hashtag receiving over 10 million views on microblogging site Weibo.

A Chinese professor last month said the country's true youth jobless rate may have been closer to 50% in March, in rare public comments about the matter published in an article for financial magazine Caixin.

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