Jobless rate expanded to 3.7% in February

It was dragged down by the construction, retail, accommodation and food services sectors.

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate widened to 3.7% during the three-month period December 2019-February from 3.4% in November 2019-January, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD).

The increased jobless rate was seen across most sectors, especially the construction, retail, accommodation and food services sectors. The number of unemployed persons rose by 11,800 to 134,100 in December 2019-February from 122,300 in November 2019-January.

"The employment situation of the consumption- and tourism-related sectors (viz. retail, accommodation and food services sectors) exacerbated further. The unemployment rate and the underemployment rate of these sectors combined surged to 6.1% and 2.5% respectively, both the highest in about a decade,” said secretary for labour and welfare, Dr. Law Chi-kwong.

Likewise, underemployment rate also rose to 1.5% from 1.2% over the same period, no thanks to the construction, transportation, retail, accommodation and food services sectors. The number of underemployed persons also increased by 11,800 to 59,100.

Total employment fell by around 34,400 to 3.77 million in December 2019-February from 3.8 million in November 2019-January. Over the same period, the labour force also dipped by around 22,500 from 3.93 million to 3.9 million.

“The year-on-year decline in total employment widened to 2.5%, the largest since the Asian financial crisis. The decline in labour force also enlarged in parallel, suggesting that some people chose to leave the labour force upon losing their jobs," Law added.