Hong Kong’s jobless rate remained unchanged at 3.7 percent in the three months through August, while the jobless groups in food and beverage and manufacturing sectors kept climbing, official data showed.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was slightly better than the 3.8 percent projected by economists.
This follows a spike a month ago – when the figure rose 0.2 percentage points in May-July from the April-June period – data from the Census and Statistics Department showed.
But the latest underemployment rate jumped to 1.6 percent in June-August from 1.4 percent in the three months till July.
The number of unemployed persons increased by around 6,000 to 151,000 in the three months ended August and the figure of underemployed persons also increased by around 4,200 to 59,400.
Total employment grew by around 9,300 to 3.68 million in June to August.
Increases in unemployment rate were mainly seen in the food and beverage service activities sector and manufacturing sector, while decreases were mainly logged in the construction sector and professional and business services sector, excluding cleaning and similar activities, the department said.
Regarding the underemployment rate, the food and beverage service activities sector and arts, entertainment and recreation sector recorded growth. A decrease was mainly seen in the decoration, repair and maintenance for buildings sector.
While the business situations of certain sectors will continue to weigh on employment, steady growth of the Hong Kong economy, as well as the government's various measures to boost economic momentum and bolster consumption, would provide support to the overall labor demand, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said.
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