Hong Kong (dpa-AFX) – Hong Kong’s unemployment rate decreased in March, the labor force statistics from the Census and Statistics Department showed on Thursday.
The unemployment rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 6.8 per cent in three months to March from 7.2 per cent in three months to February.
The underemployment rate increased to 3.8 per cent from 4.0 per cent in the preceding period.
The number of unemployed persons decreased by around 1,800 to 259,800 in January to March. Over the same period, the number of underemployed persons also declined by around 6,200 to 148,400.
Total employment increased about 4,000 to 3.614 million in three months to March.
«The labor market was under notable pressure in the first quarter of 2021, but the situation stabilized in the latter part of the quarter as the fourth wave of the local epidemic receded,» the Secretary for Labor and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, said.