HONG KONG, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's jobless rate kept falling over the past months thanks to a recovering economy and the receding COVID-19 epidemic.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the global financial hub dropped to 6 percent during the March-May period from 6.4 percent seen in the previous three months, the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Thursday in a report.
The underemployment rate dropped from 3.3 percent to 2.8 percent during the same period.
Secretary for Labor and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said the labor market improved further as the unemployment rates for most economic sectors retreated, with the combined figure for the consumption- and tourism-related sectors down by 0.5 percentage point to 9.4 percent.
The rate for food and beverage service activities fell by 0.8 percentage point to 11.3 percent, and that for the construction sector declined by 0.6 percentage point to 10.3 percent.
With the continued economic recovery, the pressure on the labor market will gradually ease, especially if the local epidemic remains well contained, Law said, adding that some sectors may take a longer time to return to their pre-pandemic levels.
Law called on the public to actively get the vaccine to create favorable conditions for a full-fledged revival of the economy. Enditem
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