Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Monday, Mar 27, 2023

Hong Kong jobless rate drops to 3.3 per cent, marking 11th straight decline

Hong Kong jobless rate drops to 3.3 per cent, marking 11th straight decline

Rate falls 0.1 percentage points compared with rolling three-month period from November to January, with 115,700 people out of work.

Hong Kong’s jobless rate dropped further to 3.3 per cent for the December to February period, marking the 11th consecutive monthly decline and indicating the city is on track to return to post-Covid normality.

The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points compared with the rolling three-month period from November to January, with 115,700 people out of work, the Census and Statistics Department revealed on Thursday.

Total employment shrank by 0.3 per cent to 3.65 million people for the latest three-month stretch.

The city’s jobless rate hit a one-year high of 5.4 per cent in the February to April period in 2022.


Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said the unemployment and underemployment situation showed progress during the latest period.

“The labour market conditions should improve further in the near term alongside the continued return of economic activities to normality and the rebound in inbound tourism,” he said in a statement.

The underemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 1.3 per cent in the December to February period. The number of underemployed fell by 4,200 to 47,900.

The jobless rate declined across almost all major sectors, with a notable decrease in the retail, transport, arts, entertainment and recreation segments.

The unemployment rate for the retail sector improved by 0.3 percentage points to 3.9 per cent, while the figure for the food and drink sector fell by 0.1 percentage points to 4.8 per cent.

The Labour Department logged a monthly average of 92,624 vacancies in the private sector, marking a year-on-year surge of 23.3 per cent and a fall of 0.3 percentage points compared with the average figure for the November to January period.

Simon Lee Siu-po, an economist and honorary fellow at the Asia-Pacific Institute of Business at Chinese University, said the latest figure indicated that the labour market remained tight.

The jobless rate declined across almost all major sectors.


“We should notice that total employment has dropped while the jobless rate further decreased. This implies that the labour force has shrunk probably due to emigration,” Lee said. “Catering and transport industries are still struggling to hire people.”

Ray Chui Man-wai, president of the Institute of Dining Art, who also chairs Kam Kee Catering Group, said some restaurants were not able to operate fully due to a lack of workers.

“Some eateries couldn’t hire a chef even if they offered a monthly salary of HK$40,000 (US$5,099), which is unreasonably high. Some just operate partially because they might lack a roasted meat or dim sum master,” Chui said.

Gary Ng Cheuk-yan, a senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank, said improving employment figures did not conceal the city’s talent exodus.

“The government needs to work harder to retain local talent and reposition Hong Kong’s retail sector in the post-pandemic era, especially as more retailers have expanded their operations in mainland China over the past few years,” Ng said.

The number of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) cases in February fell by 19 to 206,430, with unemployment cases seeing a month-to-month decrease of 0.3 per cent to 17,919.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
Close
0:00
0:00
In a dramatic U-turn against His Government: Judicial Overhaul Legislation Must Be Halted, Says Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
Powell: Silicon Valley Bank was an 'outlier'
Bordeaux town hall set on fire in France pro democracy protest
Police violence in Paris
Paris: Some of the police are stepping down and showing solidarity with the protesters.
Donald Trump arrested – Twitter goes wild with doctored pictures
NYPD is setting up barricades outside Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of Trump arrest.
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Goldman Sachs cuts outlook for European bank debt over Credit Suisse crisis
Paris Rioting vs Macron anti democratic law
'Sexual Fantasy' Assignment At US School Outrages Parents
The US government has charged Chinese businessman Guo Wengui with leading a $1 billion fraud scheme that cheated thousands of followers out of their money.
Credit Suisse to borrow $54 billion from Swiss central bank
The BBC problem about China
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
"Will Fly Wherever International Law Allows": US Warns Russia After Drone Incident
If this was in Tehran, Moscow or Hong Kong
Announcing GPT-4
TRUMP: "Standing before you today, I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War III."
China is calling out the US, UK, and Australia on their submarine pact, claiming they are going further down a dangerous road
A brief banking situation report
We are witnessing widespread bank fails and the president just gave a 5 min speech then walked off camera.
Donald Trump's asked by Tucker Carlson question on if the U.S. should support regime change in Russia?.
'No relation to the American SVB': India's SVC Bank acts to calm depositors amid brand name confusion.
Good news: The U.S. government is now guaranteeing all deposits, held by, Silicon Valley Bank, and the funds are available as of today
Silicon Valley Bank exec was Lehman Brothers CFO
In a potential last-ditch effort, HSBC is considering a rescue deal to save Silicon Valley Bank UK from insolvency
Saudi Arabia has announced a major breakthrough in diplomacy with Iran after two years of intense talks
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
City officials in Berlin announced on Thursday that all swimmers at public pools will soon be allowed to swim topless
Fitness scam
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
A primitive judge in Australia sparked outrage when he told a breastfeeding woman to leave his courtroom for being “a distraction"
Barcelona is feeling the heat as they face corruption charges over payments to former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
Silicon Valley Bank: Struggles Threaten Tech Startup Ecosystem"
The unelected UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, an immigrant himself, defends new controversial crackdown on illegal migration
Old clip of Bill Gates saying Ukraine is a big, fat, corrupt sinkhole is going viral
Man’s penis amputated by mistake after he’s wrongly diagnosed with a tumour
2 universities in Hong Kong embrace use of ChatGPT, other AI tools
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
Missing Chinese banker was working to set up Singapore family office
Hong Kong ditches Covid mask mandate after 945 days
Xi Jinping and His Wife Meet with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk
How do stolen goods end up on Amazon, eBay and Facebook Marketplace?
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Is Gold the Ultimate Safe Haven Asset in Times of Uncertainty?
Spain officials quit over trains that were too wide for tunnels...
Hello. Here is our news digest from London.
×