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Following is the transcript (English portion) of a media session by the Acting Financial Secretary, Mr Stephen Ip, on the latest unemployment rate this (November 17) afternoon at the West Wing, Central Government Offices:
Acting Financial Secretary: I am glad that the unemployment rate dropped by 0.3% to 8.0% in August to October 2003. The number of unemployed persons fell to 282,000.
The underemployment rate also fell by 0.1% to 3.5%. The number of underemployed persons fell to 120,000.
The unemployment rate continued to fall because of a rebound in economic activity. Further improvement in the unemployment rate will hinge on the continued pick-up in economic activity resulting in additional jobs for the labour force.
Decreases in the unemployment rate occurred mainly in retail, restaurants and hotels, amusement and recreational services, real estate, import/export, decoration and maintenance, and sanitary services.
The number of new vacancies from the private sector registered with the Labour Department continued on an upward trend. The October figure was about 20,000, representing a 19% increase over the same period last year.
The number of placements by the Labour Department hit a new high last month, with over 6,700 job-seekers being successfully placed in jobs. This represented a 20% increase over the same period last year.
Reporter: What factors would have contributed to this drop in the unemployment rate and is that sustainable?
Acting Financial Secretary: As I just mentioned, the fall of the unemployment rate was mainly due to a rebound in our economic activity. Further improvement in the unemployment rate will depend on the continual pick-up in economic activity, which would result in creation of additional jobs to meet the needs of the labour force.
Reporter: But what has caused these sectors to rebound?
Acting Financial Secretary: Sectors like tourism, and tourism-related activities, such as hotels, airlines, restaurants and retailers, I think have seen considerable growth over the past two or three months. I believe that there would continue to be good business opportunities in all these sectors. I am optimistic that there would continue to be additional jobs in all these sectors.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, November 17, 2003
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