Hong Kong’s unemployment rate in Q2 2021 falls to 5.5%

Some 213,000 people are still out of jobs, but this is 20,200 fewer than the preceding quarter, as Hong Kong's labour market continues to recover.
By: | July 22, 2021
Topics: Health and Wellness | Hong Kong | Job Cuts | News | Recruitment

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate in Q2 2021 has fallen to 5.5%, declining to a level unseen for over a year since the onslaught of the pandemic. 

The unemployment rate for the April-June period fell by 0.5 percentage points from the period of March-May, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department.

In Q22021, some 213,000 people are still out of jobs, but this is 20,200 fewer than the preceding quarter. The number of those who are underemployed also fell by 10.6% to 96,000 residents. 

The unemployment rate fell across almost all of the sectors, declining by 1.3 percentage points to 10% in F&B; by 1.4 percentage points to 7.5% in retail; and by 1.4 percentage points to 8.9% in the construction sector. 

“The labour market showed further improvement as the economy continued to recover alongside the stabilisation of the local epidemic situation and the improved external environment,” said Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong, reports South China Morning Post. 

READ: Hong Kong saw 56, 253 newly registered companies in H1 2021

Law added that the labour market was expected to “improve further with the continued economic recovery”, and noted that the HK$5,000 (US$643) e-voucher scheme would also help support recovery.