On the rise: The unemployment rate rose to 3.5% in the August to October period while the underemployment rate dropped to 1.7%.

The unemployment rate rose to 3.5% in the August to October period, from 3.4% in the July-September quarter. The underemployment rate dropped from 1.8% to 1.7%.

Expecting a further rise in the jobless rate in the near term, Financial Secretary John Tsang urged employers to consider redundancy only as a last resort and allocate resources to help staff find new jobs.

The Government will do its best to promote Hong Kong's economic development and create new jobs, he added.

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung said the Labour Department will closely monitor recent closure and redundancy cases and render employment support to affected workers.

About 100 public works projects creating 40,000 jobs for the construction sector are expected to come on stream in the next nine months, Mr Cheung added.

Widespread increase

The Census & Statistics Department said the rise in the jobless rate was widespread across both the domestic and external sectors. Yet, as the labour statistics are lagging in nature, they have yet to reflect fully the impact of the global financial turmoil.

Increases in the unemployment rate were mainly seen in the retail trade, transport, import-export trades, hotels and storage sectors. Falls in the underemployment rate were mainly seen in the construction, and amusement and recreational services sectors.

Total employment rose to 3,546,700 while the labour force soared to an all-time high of 3,678,500. The number of unemployed people dropped to 131,800, and the number of underemployed people fell to 62,400.