Hong Kong employment back to pre-crisis levels

Hong Kong’s employment numbers is back above pre-crisis levels, with the labour force's still expanding.

Hong Kong's unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 per cent for the three-month period to October, falling short of consensus and of Hong Kong Global Research’s expectations for 4.1 per cent.

The improvement in the unemployment rate was concentrated mainly on internally-facing sectors, including the food and beverage services, cleaning services, the foundation and superstructure sectors and the wholesale sector.
But the headline number hides more positive signs of structural improvements. Total employment rose for the fifth straight month to over 3.53 million in that period. On a seasonally adjusted basis, employment is now also back to pre-global financial crisis levels in record high territory. At the same time, the labour force rose for the sixth straight month, by 2.1k to 3.68 million.

Job conditions in the two hardest hit worker segments - being the 15-24 years by age and the construction sector by sector – improved, with the former falling to 13.9 per cent from 14.8 per cent previously, and the latter to 6.2 per cent from 6.6 per cent before. Both these sectors make up for just under a tenth of the labour force each and sit at the lower end of Hong Kong's income spectrum, making them useful sectors to monitor once the new minimum wage legislation of HK$28 or US$3.6 / hour comes into effect in May 2011.

“With the seasonal Christmas and Chinese New Year boost around the corner, household confidence and spending look set to perk up further,” said the HSBC report.