Hong Kong employment remained stable for the quarter ending September with unemployment at 6.8 percent, and underemployment falling 0.1 percent to 3.2 percent, the government said here Tuesday.

Financial Secretary Henry Tang said he would like to see unemployment fall faster, but as Hong Kong is going through a challenging period of economic transformation and employment shift,the government remains cautious but somewhat optimistic for medium-term improvement to the unemployment situation.

He said the government will work together with various sectors of the community to improve employment.

Tang said being an open market, Hong Kong will inevitably be affected by the world economy with changing factors, like the fuelprice hike, interest rate trends and the mainland's macro-economicadjustment.

According to the government, unemployment fell in the construction, communications and insurance sectors, whereas increases were seen in the restaurants, wholesale trade, and amusement and recreational services sectors.

Underemployment falls were concentrated in the foundation and superstructure construction, retail trade, and amusement and recreational services sectors.

Total employment fell by 11,700 to 3.28 million. The total labor force fell by 12,700 to 3.53 million. The number of unemployed people remained unchanged at 249,000, while the number of underemployed fell about 5,000 to 113,000, the government said.

Source: Xinhua