Hong Kong’s unemployment drops in February quarter year-on-year

This was according to the latest labour force statistics by the Census and Statistics Department.

However, when comparing figures from December 2021 to February 2022 with those from November 2021 to January 2022, the unemployment rate increased by 0.6 percentage point from 3.9% to 4.5%.

The increase in both the unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) and underemployment rate was seen in almost all major economic sectors.

A higher rise in the unemployment rate was seen in construction, retail, accommodation and food services, and arts, entertainment and recreation sectors. For the underemployment rate, increases were mainly seen in the retail, accommodation and food services, and arts, entertainment and recreation sectors.

On a year-on-year basis, total employment in the private sector increased by 1.3% or 35,000 persons in December 2021. The total number of vacancies in the private sector was 60,980, representing an increase of 74% or 25,920 over the preceding year.

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Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Law Chi-kwong said, “The labour market deteriorated sharply due to the fifth wave of local epidemic. The labour market will continue to face pressure in the near term as the acute local epidemic is weighing heavily on consumption-related activities and causing disruptions to a wide range of economic activities.”