Hong Kong’s jobless rate remained at a 30-month high of 3.5 per cent between April and June, with authorities warning of an ongoing uncertain external environment and worsening unemployment from more graduates entering the workforce.
Preliminary data from the Census and Statistics Department on Thursday showed that the number of unemployed persons reached 136,200, slightly higher than 135,800 in the previous three months.
“While the unemployment and underemployment rates … remained the same as those of the preceding three-month period, various industries in Hong Kong are undergoing transition, and their respective unemployment rates have different trends,” Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said.
The city’s unemployment rate also hit a 30-month high for the previous three-month rolling period from March to May at 3.5 per cent, prompting Sun to publicly say imported workers had little to do with the trend.
Instead, he attributed the higher rate to a transition period for the economy and uncertainty from geopolitical tensions, but remained optimistic about the city’s projected economic growth of 2 to 3 per cent for the year.
New measures to “safeguard employment priority” for local workers were rolled out last month, including an online complaint form in addition to a department hotline set up specifically to handle reports related to imported labour and a special inspection campaign to check for any violations.
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