The unemployment rate among young people has dropped because school leavers have found jobs as the economy picks up.
The jobless rate for the 15-24 age group dropped from 12.9 per cent for the November-January period to 9.9 per cent in February, according to the Census and Statistics Department.
The unemployment rate among young people had remained at more than 10 per cent for most of last year. Almost one in four teenagers aged 15 to 19 - excluding students - did not have a job.
A department spokesman said youth unemployment had gone down mainly because school leavers - first-time job-seekers - have found work. But the unemployment rate among young people is still higher than average. The general unemployment rate is at a 13-month low.
Gary Tang Leung-shun, youth employment projects supervisor at the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, said despite a brighter market outlook, it was still hard for fresh school leavers without post-secondary qualifications to get a job.
'The 15-19 age group is still facing difficulty in their job search. With fewer academic credentials and almost no work experience, they are less competitive in the market and the last to benefit from an economic recovery,' Tang said.
