国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

Jobless rate increases for first time in 11 months

Updated: 2011-05-20 07:17

By Carmen Zhang(HK Edition)

  Print Mail Large Medium  Small

Jobless rate increases for first time in 11 months

Hong Kong's jobless rate increased slightly to 3.5 percent in the February-April period, after declining to a 31-month low of 3.4 percent in the first quarter of the year, as job growth was outpaced by an increase in the labor force.

The rally, the first rise in 11 months, came after unemployed persons increased by around 7,400 to 131,900 in the period from 124,500 in January-March, the department said on Thursday.

Besides, the underemployment rate also rose from 1.8 percent to 1.9 percent, with underemployed persons increasing by around 2,600 to a total of 68,900, the government said.

Total employment increased by around 8,200 to 3.585 million in February-April, while the labor force increased by around 15,700 to 3.717 million over the same period.

"The employment increased notably amidst continued robust economic growth and positive hiring sentiment in the corporate sector. However, this was outpaced by an even bigger increase in the labor force," Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung noted, explaining the rise in the unemployment rate.

"More (jobless) people were attracted into or came back to the labor market as the economic momentum stayed strong in the first quarter. This contributed to the increase of the jobless rate," said Irina Fan, a senior economist at Hang Seng Bank, adding that the implementation of the minimum wage - which came into effect on May 1 - could have also boosted the number of job seekers in the job market.

The increases in the unemployment rate were mainly seen in the arts, entertainment and recreation fields, the import and export trade and wholesale sectors; while the increases in the underemployment rate were seen in the arts, entertainment and recreation, as well as the construction sector.

Regarding the short-term outlook, Cheung said labor demand is expected to remain firm in light of the latest economic data and survey feedback.

"Since April 2010, the number of new private sector vacancies received by the Labour Department per working day has stayed at a high level of about 3,000 on average. Entering May this year, this level has been maintained," he said.

But he expects school leavers and new entrants induced by the minimum wage will accelerate the growth in labor supply in the next few months.

"The impact on unemployment will depend on the pace of job creation relative to the growth in labor supply," Cheung said of the effect of the minimum wage. The government introduced the HK$28 per-hour minimum wage on May 1.

Hang Seng Bank's Fan foresees a slowdown in job creation in the coming months along with the economy, as the growth momentum may have "peaked out" in the first quarter.

Paul Tang, chief economist at Bank of East Asia, also expects a slowdown in hiring in the near future. However, he predicted that the unemployment rate would decline to a level near 3 percent in the second half of the year, driven by the further economic recovery of the United States and Europe.

China Daily

(HK Edition 05/20/2011 page2)

壶关县| 固原市| 秦皇岛市| 云梦县| 胶南市| 图们市| 嘉兴市| 台北县| 喜德县| 泰宁县| 繁峙县| 韩城市| 石首市| 南和县| 遵义市| 临清市| 达尔| 龙门县| 象山县| 焉耆| 礼泉县| 南丰县| 佛教| 万盛区| 宝应县| 定结县| 建昌县| 织金县| 南开区| 赤壁市| 绿春县| 屯留县| 温州市| 布拖县| 灵石县| 泰安市| 广南县| 清苑县| 长兴县| 禹州市| 象州县|