Hong Kong’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 4.3% in the three-month period ended October 2021, when compared to 6.4% in the same period last year, according to the latest labour force statistics published by the Census and Statistics Department.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 4.5% in July to September 2021 to 4.3% in August to October 2021. The underemployment rate also decreased from 2.1% in July to September 2021 to 1.9% in August to October 2021.

The number of unemployed persons (not seasonally adjusted) decreased by approximately 8,800 from 180,600 in July to September 2021 to 171,800 in August to October 2021. Over the same period, the number of underemployed persons also decreased by approximately 6,300 from 79,000 to 72,700.

Among the consumption- and tourism-related sectors, the unemployment rate of food and beverage service activities declined by 0.8% from the preceding three-month period to 7.7% in August to October 2021. Other sectors that showed more visible declines in the unemployment rate include the decoration, repair and maintenance for buildings sector and the arts, entertainment and recreation sector.

Meanwhile, total employment increased by from 3.65 million in July to September 2021 to 3.66 million in August to October 2021. The labour force in August to October 2021 stood at 3.83 million, about the same as that in July to September 2021.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, said, "The labour market continued to improve amid the sustained economic recovery.”

Chi-kwong noted that in August to October 2021, the Labour Department recorded a monthly average of 104,915 vacancies from the private sector, representing an increase of 2.1% over the average figure in July to September 2021 and a year-on-year increase of 64.7%.

Looking ahead, Chi-kwong said, "The labour market should continue to improve, but the extent of improvement would depend on the pace of economic recovery. The stable local epidemic situation and the Consumption Voucher Scheme ((a programme aimed at boosting the economy) should continue to render support to the consumption-related activities in the near term. Yet, the virtually frozen inbound tourism remains a constraint.”

“To lay a more solid foundation for further improvement of the economy and labour market, the community should stay vigilant against the Covid-19 pandemic, strive towards more widespread vaccination and abide by the anti-epidemic measures. The government will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Chi-kwong said.