This, however, was a seasonally adjusted rate calculated by something called the X-11 Arima method. I have nothing against rocket science but I also like to look at jobless numbers the simple way. Subtract the number of people employed from the number of people in the labour force, divide the result by the labour force figure and then multiply by 100.

The result gives you an unemployment rate of 5.14 per cent and it happens to be up, not down. It is also the highest rate we have had since October last year. We have a fancy piece of rocketry in the X-11, don't we? Arima, my dear, your bias is showing.

But let us deal with the employer's whinge.

The Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management says a survey it conducted in February indicates that 73.7 per cent all companies have difficulty in hiring staff and 56.6 per cent had problems keeping their employees. The problem is most severe at the higher skill levels.

And now to my figures, in reality the official government ones. They show first of all that gross domestic product per employed worker is up at least 8 per cent since 2003 but average salaries for managers, administrators, professional and associate professionals have not risen over that time.

Thus here is a magic solution to the problem of which the bosses complain. Do you want more good people to hire? Then pay them more. We have open doors to talent and they'll come streaming in from around the world if we do not have enough of them at home.

Then again, I'm not entirely sure. One thing I would like to see from the bosses is a survey of salary scales in international financial centres. I suspect we would have to lift our pay levels very substantially to make a job in Hong Kong attractive to a junior professional in London these days.

Not to worry, however. I have a better and less costly idea for meeting the demand. Look at the first chart. It sets out pay levels by percentage of total employment for both men and women and it says that sexual discrimination is as rife as ever in our job market.

The first red bar shows you that only 6.5 per cent of all employed men make less than HK$5,000 a month while the blue bar says that 27 per cent of all employed women fall in this category.

Things change at the right side of the chart, however. There you can see that 13.7 per cent of all employed men make more than HK$30,000 a month while only 7.9 per cent of employed women do so.

But this skewing of pay levels can conceivably be justified, of course, if men in general have higher skill levels than women do.

Time for the second chart. It sets out educational attainment by percentage of total employment for both men and women. Thus, taking the right side of the chart, the red bar says that 20.9 per cent of all employed men have degrees from tertiary institutions of education while 20.2 per cent of all women do so.

Now look hard. Do you see anywhere in this chart the same discrepancies in level of educational attainment that you see in pay levels for men and women? Need a microscope to make them seem that way, don't you?

As a side note, let me also point out that percentage of the total work force with tertiary degrees has almost doubled over the past 10 years for both men and women. I mention it because the employer whinge about shortage of good staff is usually followed by demands that the public purse pay more to educate managers and professionals.

It is exactly what we have already done. You may be interested to know, however, that the employer survey I cited above also admits: 'The average proportion of training budget to total annual base salary is ... lower than that recorded in last year's survey.'

Sauce for the goose, you see, is not necessarily sauce for the gander. Is that right, fellas?

Let's get back to the main point, however. Here is my solution to the employer complaint. Hire or promote more women. Even if you raise their salaries significantly they come cheaper than men and their skill levels are just as good.