Jobless Rate Eases Slightly To 6.3 Percent

Hong Kong's latest jobless rate has edged down slightly to 6.3 percent.

The latest jobless figure covered the three-month period from September to November this year, just as the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections hit the city.

That's down slightly from the 6.4 percent recorded for the three months ending October.

The number of jobless people in the three months ending November dropped by about 13,500 to about 244,000.

In particular, the government said it's seen decreases in the unemployment rate in consumption- and tourism-related sectors.

"Among these sectors, the unemployment rate for food and beverage service activities fell from 14.8 percent to 13.1 percent. The unemployment situation in many other sectors also improved, particularly in the education sector and the arts, entertainment and recreation sector," a spokesman from the Census and Statistics Department said.

Labour Secretary Law Chi-kwong said although the labour market conditions had shown some marginal improvement, the pressure is likely to increase in the near term due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

"Given the fourth wave of local epidemic of late, the pressure on the labour market is likely to increase again in the near term," Law said.

Despite the slight drop, the latest jobless figure is still among the highest in more than a decade.