HK's jobless rate remains unchanged at three percent
Hong Kong’s jobless rate remained stable at three percent in the three-month period ending in April. Official figures from the Census and Statistics Department showed that the underemployment rate also remained unchanged, at 1.1 percent. About 5,700 people were newly employed during the three-month period, bringing the total employment number to 3.69 million. The labour force, meanwhile, increased by about 7,700 to 3.8 million. However, some 2,000 people became jobless during the period, sending the total number of unemployed to 113,700. The number of underemployed people stood at 40,500, largely unchanged compared with the previous three-month period. Commenting on the latest figures, labour chief Chris Sun said the unemployment rates of various sectors remained low in general, with only small changes observed. He said he expects "continued economic growth" to keep the labour market tight in the near term. Sun also noted that there was a monthly average of 75,425 vacancies in the private sector between February and April, which was a decrease of nearly 30 percent on a yearly basis and a drop of 2.7 percent compared with the first three months of the year.