2010-12-17 09:58

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 4.2 percent in August-October period to 4.1 percent in September-November, according to the latest statistics released Thursday by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong government.

Concurrently, the underemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.9 percent, the figure showed.

Decreases in the unemployment rate were mainly observed in the hotels, warehousing and support activities for transportation, and cleaning and similar activities sectors, while drop of underemployment rate were mainly seen in the arts, entertainment and recreation, and manufacturing sectors, the department said.

For young people aged 15-24, the unemployment rate decreased markedly by 1.4 percentage points from 13.9 percent in the previous period to 12.5 percent.

The unemployment rate of the construction sector likewise continued to improve and fell further by 0.6 percentage point to 5.6 percent, indicating that the government's various measures to boost employment in the construction sector have continued to take effect, the department said.

"Thanks to the sustained economic growth and job creation, total employment increased for the sixth consecutive month to an all-time high of 3,541,800, surpassing the previous peak of 3,537, 900 in early 2008," said the Secretary for Labor and Welfare Matthew Cheung.

On the near-term outlook, Cheung believed that "with the seasonal upsurge in business activities in the run-up to the Lunar New Year, labor demand is expected to stay firm and newly created jobs would help absorb job-seekers. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at the currently low level".