Hong Kong’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3 per cent for May to July, 0.4 percentage points lower than the previous three-month period ending in June.
The Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said the revival of local economic activities and the government’s wage subsidy scheme had contributed to the improvement in the labour market.
The Census and Statistics Department revealed in a statement on Wednesday that the number of unemployed people in the city had decreased by around 10,400, from 178,600 between April and June to 168,200 over the past three months.
The unemployment rate for food and beverage service sector fell by 1.6 percentage points to 7.0 per cent, and that of the retail sector dropped by 0.3 percentage point to 6.3 per cent.
Most other sectors also experienced a drop in unemployment rate, including the transportation as well as the arts, entertainment and recreation sector.
The underemployment figures dropped, too, 27,300 to 84,300 in the period from May to July. According to the latest figures, underemployed people accounted for 2.2 per cent of the labour force.
Chris Sun said in the statement that the further revival of local economic activities was expected in the coming months, “[p]rovided that the local epidemic situation remains under control, with the support from Phase II of the Consumption Voucher Scheme.”
Separately, the Social Welfare Department announced on Wednesday that the number of unemployed people who received the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance saw a continuous decrease from 18,866 in March to 18,642 in July.
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