Jobless figure rises again in Nov
But city also sees record employment rise in last three months by 11,000
Hong Kong’s unemployment rate rose for two consecutive reporting periods, reaching 3.4 percent for the three months to November, according to government data released on Monday.
The latest reading represents a rebound from the 13-year low of 3.2 percent between July and September and the 3.3 percent unemployment rate recorded from August to October, according to the Census and Statistics Department.
The underemployment rate dipped by 0.1 percentage point to 1.5 percent through November 30 from the previous three months.
Commenting on the latest figures, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said total employment in the city rose by about 11,000 in the past three months to a new record of 3.65 million, partly due to a seasonal rise in labor demand as a series of holidays are approaching.
New jobs were mainly seen in construction industry, as well as in warehousing and support activities for transportation sectors, said the government.
Despite the uncertain external environment stemming from the evolving eurozone debt crisis and lackluster performance of advanced economies, Cheung believes the prevailing strength of domestic demand and inbound tourism should render some cushion to upward pressure on the overall jobless rate in the near term, especially with the seasonal surge in consumption in the run-up to Christmas and New Year.
“Although Hong Kong’s unemployment rate went up, it is still sitting well below its long-term average trend of 4.2 percent (1990-2010),” Donna Kwok, Greater China economist with HSBC, wrote in a report, adding that the unemployment rate will end the year between 3 to 3.5 percent – hardly a level that would put consumption spending at risk.
Nicholas Kwan, regional head of research from Standard Chartered Bank, also said that although Hong Kong’s unemployment data seemingly reflected a worsening situation, it was still at a very low level despite standing below a 3 percent level before 1997.
“But the city’s economic structure is different from a decade ago. A continued rise in the jobless rate is expected as economic growth in Hong Kong is coming to a bottleneck in this economic cycle,” Kwan told China Daily.
Hong Kong’s economy narrowly missed a technical recession in the third quarter, inching up 0.1 percent during the period. But the figure still pointed to an overall slowdown due to external volatility, and the export sector, in particular, is expected to remain gloomy for the rest of 2011 and will extend into the beginning of 2012, Government Economist Helen Chan said in November.
The implementation of the statutory minimum wage is also impacting the city’s job market as the number of private sector vacancies recorded by the government has stayed at a high level of more than 3,000 per working day on average since the legislation came into effect in May.
Total number of private sector vacancies recorded in November increased by 20.3 percent from some 85,700 in October 2011 to an all-time high of 103,100 – a surge of 46.1 percent over the same period last year.
Cheung noted that this level has also been maintained so far this month.
litao@chinadailyhk.com
China Daily
(HK Edition 12/20/2011 page2)
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2011-12/20/content_14290170.htm