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Following is the English version of the key points made by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, on the latest unemployment statistics at a media session today (October 18):
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 3.2 per cent in July - September, same as that in June - August. The underemployment rate edged down by 0.1 percentage points to 1.7 per cent over the same period.
Total employment rose for the seventh consecutive month and increased by about 5 800 to reach a record high of 3 642 400, while the labour force increased by 2 800 to 3 769 400. As employment growth continued to outstrip labour supply growth, the number of unemployed persons showed a further decrease of 3 000 to 127 100.
Analysed by economic sector, decreases in the unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) were mainly seen in food and beverage service activities, repair, laundry, domestic and other personal service activities, and professional and business services. Increases occurred mainly in cleaning and similar activities, manufacturing, and foundation and superstructure. As for the underemployment rate, decreases were mainly observed in hotels, and arts, entertainment and recreation.
For younger persons aged 15-24, the unemployment rate fell by 0.6 percentage points to 10.4 per cent, which was distinctly lower than the rate of 14.6 per cent a year ago. Within this particular group, the unemployment rate for the 20-24 age group decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 9.4 per cent. As for those aged 15-19, the unemployment rate declined even more by 1.3 percentage points to 16.6 per cent.
With the unemployment rate holding steady at the low level of 3.2 per cent, it signifies virtually full employment while there remains a strong local demand for labour.
The number of private sector vacancies canvassed by the Labour Department has stayed at a high level of over 3 000 per working day on average. This level has been maintained in October so far.
However, the employment situation in the near future will depend on the pace of overall economic growth and job creation in the corporate sector. While the local economy has broadly maintained its strength so far, employers have generally turned more cautious toward staff hiring recently amidst growing concern over the Euro zone debt crisis and subdued economic growth in the US. We will continue to be vigilant and closely monitor development.
On the employment situation after the implementation of the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW), the latest statistics (July - September) revealed that female labour force and employment increased by 5.1 per cent and 5.9 per cent respectively over a year earlier, distinctly faster than the corresponding growth for the male counterparts.
Among the women workers, the number of employed persons for those aged 50 or over rose more notably by 13.2 per cent, as did that for lower-skilled workers by 41 200. For the retail sector in which a large proportion of lower-skilled personnel is engaged, the number of employed female workers went up by 7 500 as compared to the period just before the implementation of the SMW (February - April 2011).
The latest earnings statistics for the period June - August showed that low-paid employees continued to enjoy noticeable pay hikes. In particular, the average employment earnings for full-time employees (excluding government employees and live-in domestic helpers) in the lowest decile group registered a year-on-year increase of 14.4 per cent, much larger than the overall average rise of 7.2 per cent, while the real-term growth is 6.0 per cent. This indicates that the implementation of the SMW has provided substantial improvement to the earnings of low-income workers.
Ends/Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Issued at HKT 18:11
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