Job market stalls as 2,900 jobs vanish despite steady 3.8% rate

Labour underemployment rose slightly to 1.7%.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 3.8%, whilst the underemployment rate increased to 1.7% during the October-to-December period, according to a labour force statistics report from the Census and Statistics Department.

Compared with data from September to November 2025, movements in the unemployment rate—not seasonally adjusted—in various industry sectors fluctuated but with few differences.

The underemployment rate for the transportation sector and information and communications sector increased, whilst the cleaning and similar activities sector decreased.

Overall employment has an approximate decrease of 2,900, bringing the total for the period to 3.667 million in October to December 2025, in contrast with 3.669 million in September to November 2025.

The total of unemployed persons—not seasonally adjusted—had an approximate decrease of 6,200 in the same period, to 138,200 in October to December 2025 from 144,400 in September to November 2025.

The underemployed tally also increased by 3,900 to 64,800 in October to December 2025 from 60,900.

Looking ahead, Chris Sun, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, said, "The continued growth of the Hong Kong economy and the improvement in local consumption sentiment should help stabilise the labour market. Nonetheless, the employment situations in some sectors may continue to be affected by their challenging business conditions."