Hong Kong unemployment rate remains at 16-year high of 6.4 per cent as effects of coronavirus pandemic continue to be felt
- Labour chief Law Chi-kwong expects the jobs market to remain under pressure in the near term
- Economists believe rate will continue to climb, arguing the latest three-month jobless rate cannot fully reflect the seriousness of the problem
About 257,800 people were without work between August and October, around 2,000 fewer than the three-month period of July to September, but total employment increased by around 2,900 to almost 3.63 million, according to the data released by the Census and Statistics Department on Tuesday.
Economists expected the figure would continue to climb as they argued the latest three-month jobless rate could not fully reflect how serious the problem might be, with one predicting the figure could hit 8 per cent in April or May.
The overall jobless rate, unchanged from that recorded for the July to September period, was the highest since December 2004.
The underemployment rate remained steady, affecting 148,000 workers. That figure was around 1,100 fewer than the three months ending in September.