Unemployment in HK down to 8.6pc as many firms start taking on staff again
Hong Kong's unemployment rate dropped for the first time this year in August as the city's Sars-battered businesses began to hire again, particularly in the travel and tourism sectors.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the three months to August 31 fell to 8.6 per cent from a record high of 8.7 per cent in July, the first decline since the rate fell to 7.1 per cent last November.
The underemployment rate - which tracks the number of people who are unable to find more than part-time work - dropped to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent the month before.
'Because the unemployment figures are a lagging indicator, the fact that they have started to improve is an indication that our economy is beginning to recover,' Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said after the figures were released yesterday afternoon.
'I hope this recovery is sustainable,' he said.