Stable period: The jobless rate remained at 5.3% in the March - May period.

The unemployment rate held stable at 5.3% in the March - May period, the same as in February-April. The underemployment rate rose from 2.2% to 2.3% over the same period, the Census & Statistics Department says.

Total employment rose from 3,502,100 in to 3,514,900, while the labour force rose from 3,699,000 to an all-time high of 3,714,700.

The number of jobless people rose from 196,900 to 199,700, while the number of underemployed people grew from 79,900 to 85,200.

Falls in the jobless rate were mainly found in the construction, transportation, accommodation services, and arts, entertainment and recreation sectors. Rises were more apparent in the food services, social work activities and wholesale sectors.

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung described as encouraging the fact that the unemployment rate has remained unchanged for the first time since the upward trend began eight months ago, while total employment has gone up after falling for four consecutive periods.

"Nevertheless, given that the economy has yet to recover from recession, and fresh graduates and school-leavers are expected to enter the labour market in the summer, the unemployment rate may still face upward pressure in the coming months," he said, adding the uncertainty brought about by the human swine flu also exerted extra pressure on the labour market.

The Government's several rounds of relief measures are beginning to take effect.  The next step now is to restore people's confidence in coping with the economic downturn, Mr Cheung said.

Last month, the Labour Department netted over 40,000 vacancies from the private sector, down 28% over the same period last year and 10.2% on April. On average, the department received about 2,100 vacancies each working day.