Coronavirus: Hong Kong’s jobless rate rises to 5.2 per cent, highest in more than a decade, as pandemic hammers economy
- Consumer and tourism-related companies especially hard hit, with their unemployment level rising to 9 per cent
- Grim figures come as labour minister says he expects most firms to apply for wage subsidy scheme
Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose to 5.2 per cent for the February to April period, the highest in more than a decade, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to hammer businesses across the city.
The rate was 1 percentage point higher than the 4.2 per cent recorded in the January to March period, official figures released on Tuesday showed. The underemployment rate also rose 1 percentage point, to 3.1 per cent, the highest in more than 15 years, against the previous three-month period up to March.
The figures came as Secretary for Labour and Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong said more than 90 per cent of employers were expected to apply for wage subsidies under the HK$81 billion (US$10.5 billion) coronavirus relief scheme.
The city has not seen an employment landscape this grim since the global financial crisis in 2009, when the unemployment rate hit 5.2 per cent in the August to October period that year.
“The labour market showed further sharp deterioration as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to weigh on a wide range of economic activities,” Law said.