Unemployment rate rises to 5.4% from February to April

The total number of unemployed people stands at 206,100.

The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 5.4%  from February to April, when compared to the January to March period. 

Based on the data from the Census & Statistics Department (C&SD), the total number of unemployed people from February to April was 206,100, an increase of 17,600 from the preceding three-month period.

Meanwhile, the number of underemployed rose by around 25,000 to 142,000, translating to a rate of 3.8%.

With the increase in the number of jobless and underemployed individuals, total employment dropped to 3,559,200, whilst the labour force fell to 3,765,300.

The deterioration of Hong Kong’s labour market however should see an improvement in the coming months, according to Secretary for Labour & Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong.

The receding local epidemic situation and progressive relaxation of social distancing measures, the new round of Consumption Voucher Scheme, and Other relief measures including the 2022 Employment Support Scheme should help drive improvement in the employment sentiment, said the C&SD.