Unemployment rate from November to January remains at 3.9%

It increased in the food and beverage, and arts, entertainment, and recreation sectors.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Hong Kong from November 2021 to January 2022 stood at 3.9%, unchanged from the October 2021 to December 2021 rate, data from the Census and Statistics Department showed.

In a press statement, the department said total employment declined by around 4,200 from 3,680,700 in October 2021 to December 2021 to 3,676,500 in November 2021 to January 2022, whilst the labour force decreased by around 12,300 from 3,824,000 to 3,811,700 in the same period. 

The number of unemployed persons declined by around 8,100 from 143,300 in the October 2021 to December 2021 quarter to 135,200 in November 2021 to January 2022 quarter, whilst the count of underemployed persons grew by around 3,000 from 66,800 to 69,800 in the same period.

Hong Kong's underemployment rate, meanwhile, inched up from 1.7% in October 2021 to December 2021 period to 1.8% in November 2021 to January 2022 due to the increase in the food and beverage service activities sector. 

"The fifth wave of [the] local epidemic began to weigh on the labour market,” Hong Kong Secretary of Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said.

The unemployment rate in the food and beverage service activities sector increased by 0.3 percentage point over the preceding three-month period to 6.3% from November 2021 to January 2022. The unemployment rate in the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector increased by 1.3 percentage points to 5.3%.

Unemployment rates in other sectors including manufacturing, transportation, storage, postal and courier services, and information and communications sectors continued to decrease. 

“The deterioration in the local epidemic situation of late will pose further pressure on the labour market. The sixth round of measures under the anti-epidemic fund, which is estimated to benefit 67,000 businesses, operators of 40,000 transport tools and 750,000 individuals, should render some support," Law said.

He, likewise, said the outlook of the labour market would hinge on the development of the local epidemic, adding that the community must "work in unison" to aid the Hong Kong government to swiftly curb the local epidemic.

From November 2021 to January 2021, the Labour Department reported a monthly average of 97,011 vacancies from the private sector, representing a year-on-year increase of 81.2% whilst a decline of 9.6% over the average figure in October to December 2021. 

Job hunters are encouraged to use the LD's online platforms such as the Interactive Employment Service website for information on career opportunities. For large-scale job fairs, the LD will organise a large-scale virtual job fair on 30 March 2022 and 31 March 2022. About 50 employers will join where they will offer a large number of job vacancies from various industries.

The survey for November 2021 tp January 2022 also covers a sample of some 25,000 households or 69,000 persons, selected through a scientifically designed sampling scheme to represent the population of Hong Kong. Those surveyed were aged 15 and above.