, Hong Kong

Hong Kong jobless likely to further drop in May: gov’t

But full employment is still a long way ahead.

The unemployment rate from March to May will likely fall further, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said, but it will not be within pre-pandemic level.

“At the rate of improvement in recent months, the unemployment rate announced later can soon fall back to the level of nearly a year ago, but it is different from the level before the epidemic,” Financial Secretary Chan said.

“Compared with the situation of nearly full employment, there is still a long way to go.”

Hong Kong has started to show signs of recovery after its economy expanded 7.9% in the first quarter, which he attributed to the government’s efforts to control the outbreak and the vaccination programme.

“To maximize the recovery of the economy, it is always indispensable to effectively prevent and control the epidemic, and to resume travel between people from the mainland and even outside the country,” he also said.

This comes ahead the Census and Statistics Department’s report on the March to May jobless rate.

The unemployment rate peaked in February to 7.2%, the highest in 17 years. It started to decline in March to 6.8% and further in April to 6.4%.

Read also: Jobless rate climbs to 7% in January after COVID fourth wave

 

 

 

Follow the links for more news on

Join Hong Kong Business community
Since you're here...

...there are many ways you can work with us to advertise your company and connect to your customers. Our team can help you dight and create an advertising campaign, in print and digital, on this website and in print magazine.

We can also organize a real life or digital event for you and find thought leader speakers as well as industry leaders, who could be your potential partners, to join the event. We also run some awards programmes which give you an opportunity to be recognized for your achievements during the year and you can join this as a participant or a sponsor.

Let us help you drive your business forward with a good partnership!