URUMQI, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region created a total of 353,400 new jobs for its residents in the first half of 2019, local authorities said Thursday.

The regional human resources and social security bureau said that from January to June, the region stepped up support to implement various policies to promote employment and gave priority to people living in impoverished areas in southern Xinjiang.

Among the total new jobs, 235,000 people obtained steady jobs, accounting for 66.5 percent of the newly-added employment in the first six months this year.

Meanwhile, the region has seen an increase in employment in enterprises and the service sector.

Four prefectures in southern Xinjiang, which have long suffered from poverty, provided new job opportunities for over 101,000 residents in the first half of this year, up 12.5 percent, accounting for 28.6 percent of the new jobs created across the region.