Hong Kong's jobless rate fell to 5.2% in the August-October period, from 5.3% in July-September, the Census & Statistics Department says. The underemployment rate was stable at 2.4%.

The department said along with the economic recovery, the labour market has continued to show signs of improvement, as reflected by a further drop in the latest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate.

Job spawn: Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung says the jobless rate fell to 5.2% in the August-October period.

Sector improvements

Total employment dropped from 3,495,500 to 3,488,300, while the labour force fell from 3,704,700 to 3,678,700. The number of unemployed shrank from 209,100 people to 190,400, while that of underemployed people dipped from 89,900 to 88,900.

The jobless rate in the construction sector fell 1.5 percentage points to 7.9%. Falls were also mainly observed in the food services, insurance and wholesale sectors. The decoration and maintenance sub-sector's jobless rate dropped to 8.6%, down 2.2 percentage points, accumulating a total fall of 13 percentage points over six consecutive periods. The foundation and superstructure sub-sector fell 1.1 percentage points to 7.7%.

For the underemployment rate, drops were mainly seen in the food services as well as warehousing and support activities for the transportation sectors, offsetting rises in the foundation and superstructure, and arts, entertainment and recreation sectors.

Job creation

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung said the Government's all-out efforts to create jobs in the construction sector are continuing to bear fruit.

"In particular the unemployment rate of youths aged 15 to 19 dropped notably by three percentage points to 22.7%, indicating the youth employment situation is gradually improving."

Mr Cheung said the near-term outlook will depend mainly on the pace of economic recovery and job creation, adding as business conditions improve, employers are expected to adopt a more positive attitude towards new hirings, while it may take some time for the labour market to keep up with the pace of the economic rebound.

The Labour Department netted in October 55,766 vacancies from the private sector, a drop of 8.6% on September. The number of successful placements, however, rose to 11,545 from 11,172 in September, up 3.3%.