More jobs in service, fewer in factories
JOBS continue to be created in Hong Kong's vibrant service sector, but the number of people employed in manufacturing has continued to decline steeply, according to latest Government figures.
In June this year, there were 443,500 people in manufacturing jobs, down 15 per cent from the same time a year ago.
The number of service sector jobs increased 10.9 per cent over the same period to 1.03 million. The service sector includes retail, import-export, restaurants and hotels.
Jobs in the financial services industry also grew year on year. In the 12 months to June, the number employed in this area grew by 7.3 per cent to 351,200.
Construction industry employment remained virtually flat on 57,400 at the end of June, compared with 56,900 at the same time a year before.
The picture was similar for reported vacancies. Demand was high in the services sector - especially in the retail and import-export trades, restaurants and hotels - and slightly lower in the financial services sector.
The construction sector saw less change, and a big decline was reported in manufacturing vacancies as industry continued to shift across the border to China.
The broad services sector had 30.1 per cent more vacancies at 35,400, compared with 27,240 a year earlier, while financial services vacancies increased by 12.8 per cent to 11,890 from 10,540.
Construction vacancies increased by 7.7 per cent from 490 in June 1993 to 530 in June this year.
There were 11,240 manufacturing vacancies reported in June this year, compared with 14,760 a year before - a drop of some 23.8 per cent.
For seasonal reasons, all sectors except construction reported lower vacancies in June than in March this year.
