Jobless Rate Will Continue To Rise: Law Chi-kwong

The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Law Chi-kwong, has warned that Hong Kong’s unemployment rate will continue to rise as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the city’s economy.

The government said on Tuesday that the city’s jobless rate for the February to April period had spiked to a 10-year high of 5.2 percent.

Speaking on RTHK’s Money Talk programme on Thursday, Law said the worst is not yet over.

“The acceleration of unemployment should be slowing down. But the figures should be going up a bit more. So it would be somewhere between five and six percent for some time,” he said.

However, he said that unlike the Sars period in 2003, employers are keen to keep their staff although many have been asked to take pay cuts or go on unpaid leave.

Law said a scheme rolled out by the government to pay half of workers' salaries for six months, up to HK$9,000 per month, is aimed at helping businesses “bounce back quickly” as soon as the economy improves.

“It appears that employers are taking an attitude that they want to struggle [on]. They want to maintain the employment relationship with their employees. They want to wait and see when the economy comes back, they would be able to get back as soon as they can,” he said.

Asked if the government could introduce an unemployment insurance scheme in future to protect those who lose their jobs, Law said this is open for discussion but such a scheme would change "the overall scene of the labour market".