Hong Kong employment rises to record high

Hong Kong's total employment has soared to a record high of 3.29 million, as the unemployment rate had dropped to a 32-month low of 6.7 percent for the quarter ending October, according to the Census and Statistics Department Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined slightly from 6.8 percent in July-September 2004 to 6.7 percent (provisional) in August-October 2004, while the underemployment rate held stable at 3.2 percent in both periods.

Total employment showed the fastest growth so far this year, backed by the sustained pick-up in overall economic activity. Currently, this growth rate distinctly outpaced that of total labor supply, said the Department.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Henry Tang said after the figure was released that he was encouraged by the improvement of labor market. "We remain vigilant and committed to our efforts in creating more employment," he said.

Falls in the underemployment rate were seen mainly in the restaurants, communications, sanitary services, and amusement and recreational services sectors, while the increase was concentrated in the decoration and maintenance sector.

The total labor force rose by 7,500 to 3.54 million. The number of unemployed fell by 8,900 to 240,000, the largest fall this year. Concurrently the number of underemployed fell by 900 to 112,000.

In October, the Labor Department achieved a record high job placement of 8,145, up 21 percent over the same month last year. Some 70,000 placements were achieved by the department in the first 10 months of the year, surpassing the full-year figure of 66,100 in 2003.

Last month, the department continued to receive a high of some 1,200 private sector vacancies on average on each working day, which indicated that the labor market sentiments remained buoyant.