Unemployment eases for 12th quarter

Hong Kong's latest unemployment rate further eased to 3 percent in the February to April period, improving for the 12th consecutive quarter, according to government data yesterday.

In the January to March period, the unemployment rate came in at 3.1 percent.

The underemployment rate, however, remained unchanged at 1.2 percent for the latest period.

The labor market continues to improve as domestic economic activities revived further and visitor arrivals rebounded strongly, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said.

Looking ahead, Sun expects the labor market to improve further in the coming months alongside the ongoing economic recovery.

Analyzed by sectors, the combined unemployment rate of the consumption and tourism-related sectors remained unchanged at 4.2 percent.

Among them, the unemployment rate of the retail sector held steady at 3.8 percent, while that of the food and beverage service activities sector declined slightly by 0.1 percentage point to 4.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the decoration, repair, and maintenance of buildings sector, the transportation sector; and warehousing and support activities for transportation saw notable decreases in unemployment rates.

As for the remaining sectors, the unemployment rates either showed little change or increased, but stayed low in general, the data showed.