Jobless Rate Surges To 16-year High Of 6.6 Percent

Hong Kong’s latest unemployment rate has climbed to 6.6 percent, the highest in 16 years, and an academic warned that the worst is not over yet.

The latest jobless figure, which covered the three-month period from October to December last year, was up 0.3 percentage points from the 6.3 percent for the three months ending November.

The number of jobless people rose by 1,500 from 244,300 to 245,800 in the latest survey.

The city’s labour force stood at 3.89 million.

The Census and Statistics Department says the unemployment rate worsened across almost all the major sectors, with the retail, accommodation and food services industries having recorded more distinct increases.

Meanwhile, the territory’s underemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.4 percent.

"As the fourth wave of local epidemic continues to weigh on local consumption sentiment and disrupt economic activities, the labour market will remain under notable pressure in the near term,” Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said.

Simon Lee, a senior lecturer from Chinese University's business school, expects the jobless situation to worsen further in the next few months because of a slowdown in business activity.

He said whether the situation would improve depends on how the government handles the pandemic. "Now it seems to be worsening a little bit, and it also depends on the effectiveness of the vaccine.

"I don't think the situation will improve significantly in the first few months of this year, perhaps the second half of this year is possible."

And there was more bad news on Tuesday for the hard-hit tourism trade.

Local travel agency EGL Tours says it will lay off 120 tour guides as the company struggles to stay afloat amid the pandemic, involving severance pay to the tune of HK$20 million.

Some of the workers have more than 20 years of experience.

EGL executive director Steve Huen said the sacked staff, who worked in tour groups to Japan and other long-haul destinations, will be given priority for re-hiring in future.

Last year, Wing On Travel cut 120 jobs and Sunflower Travel told its staff to take unpaid leave.

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