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Hong Kong's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 3.7 percent in the period of December 2019 to February 2020 to 4.2 percent in the period of January to March 2020, the highest in more than nine years, according to the latest statistics released Monday by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.
The underemployment rate also increased from 1.5 percent in December 2019 to February 2020 to 2.1 percent in January to March 2020, the latest labor force statistics released by the HKSAR government's Census and Statistics Department (CSD) showed.
Commenting on the figures, the HKSAR government's Secretary for Labor and Welfare Law Chi-kwong noted that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate soared to the highest in more than nine years, and the underemployment rate hit the highest in nearly a decade.
Total employment decreased by around 48,800 to 3,720,000 in January to March 2020. Over the same period, the labor force also decreased by around 20,800 to 3,882,200.
The number of unemployed persons increased by around 28,100 to 162,200 in January to March 2020. Over the same period, the number of underemployed persons also increased by around 23,700 to 82,800.
"The year-on-year declines in total employment and labor force widened further to 3.6 percent and 2.2 percent respectively, both the largest on record," Law said.
Comparing the two periods, the unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) and underemployment rate increased across almost all the major economic sectors, with more distinct increases observed in the construction, education, transportation, and retail, accommodation and food services sectors.
"The labor market showed further sharp deterioration as the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted a wide range of economic activities," Law said.
He pointed out that the unemployment rate of the consumption- and tourism-related sectors combined soared to 6.8 percent, the highest since the August to October 2009 period, which was in the aftermath of the global financial crisis; and the sectors' underemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent, the highest since the June to August 2003 period following the onslaught of SARS.
Looking ahead, Law said that "the labor market will continue to face significant pressure from the economic fallout arising from the pandemic in the near term," and the HKSAR government will closely monitor the progress and effectiveness of the various relief measures it has rolled out.
The HKSAR government has rolled out relief measures of unprecedented scale, including the one-off measures in the 2020-21 Budget and the two rounds of measures under the Anti-epidemic Fund totalling 287.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 37 billion U.S. dollars), around 10 percent of Hong Kong's GDP.
Some specific measures, in particular the Employment Support Scheme and various types of support for specific sectors, should help keep workers in employment, Law said.
