Aiden He

Employment improved for the eighth consecutive month in December with the jobless rate falling to 3.5 percent in the last quarter from 3.7 percent in the September-November period, latest government job figures showed.

This came as the city removed most of its Covid curbs.

Underemployment also eased slightly to 1.5 percent from 1.6 percent in the September-November period.

In releasing the numbers yesterday, the Census and Statistics Department said the number of jobless decreased by 12,700 to 126,000 in the last quarter and that total employment increased by 8,300 to 3.67 million workers.

Unemployment fell in almost all major sectors with conspicuous improvements seen in the construction, retail, transportation and education sectors.

In respect of underemployment, improvement was reported mainly in trades from decoration, repair and building maintenance to food and beverage and transportation.

Secretary for Labor and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said that when viewed together, the sectors related to consumption and tourism saw an overall 0.3 percentage point decrease in unemployment rate to 4.7 percent in the October-December quarter.

Of these, unemployment in the retail sector fell the most to 4.6 percent from 5 percent, compared to that of food and beverage services, which only edged down to 5 percent from 5.1 percent.

Sun believed the labor market would continue to improve in the near term with the government lifting most social distancing measures and normal travel resuming between the SAR and the mainland.

"Domestic economic activities are likely to show a more visible revival, lending further support to the labor market," he said.

However, the official cautioned that a tightened financial environment may partly offset the positive effects.

Job numbers go up as Covid hurdles go down