HK employers keep jobless rate at 6.8pc for the September quarter
In the face of increasing global uncertainty, Hong Kong's employers put a hold on hiring additional workers during September, according to government unemployment figures.
The Census and Statistics Department yesterday announced that at 6.8 per cent, the city's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the July-to-September period was unchanged from that for the three months from June to August. But there was a marginal improvement in the underemployment rate, which dropped from 3.3 per cent to 3.2 per cent.
Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said he couldn't predict whether the unemployment situation would improve or worsen.
'External economic factors are affecting Hong Kong,' he said, citing higher oil prices, interest rate rises and the mainland's macroeconomic policies.
'I really can't predict whether the unemployment rate is going up or going down by the end of the year,' he said.
