The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 8.7% in May-July to 8.6% in June-August, while the underemployment rate fell from 4.2% to 4%.

Improved business conditions helped stabilise the unemployment rate and lower underemployment.

Of particular note was the strong pick-up in the tourism and related sectors aiding employment.

With a new batch of fresh graduates and school leavers entering the labour market, continued improvement in the economy and job creation will be essential to absorb them.

In addition to energising the tourism sector, the introduction and expansion of the 'individual visit' scheme for Mainland visitors has helped create more job opportunities for other sectors, notably the retail and catering industries.

The construction industry, which has been badly hit by the recent downturn, will also benefit from the tourism boom.

Some 50,000 hotel rooms are under various stages of design or construction, and should be ready for use by 2005. Together, these projects will create some 10,900 construction-related jobs.

With the construction programme of HK Disneyland reaching an advanced stage early next year, more construction jobs will be available.

Looking ahead, an additional 2,000 construction jobs will come on stream when work starts in late 2004 on the International Exhibition Centre at Chek Lap Kok.

There are signs of improvement in the job market, with the number of private sector vacancies registered with Labour Department Job Centres increasing.

Some 24,600 private sector vacancies were recorded by the department in August, up 13.3% over the previous month. These amounted to some 1,000 vacancies per working day - well above the usual 600 to 800 vacancies daily.

Many of the newly received vacancies were from new employers, in particular small and medium sized enterprises. This reflected the growing recruitment needs and sentiments of employers.

The total labour force, at 3,511,000 in June-August, was virtually unchanged from 3,510,800 in May-July. Total employment was also little changed, at 3,201,000 as against 3,201,500 in the two periods.

The number of unemployed people in June-August, at 309,000, was similar to that in May-July, at 309,200. Yet the number of underemployed people fell by about 7,700, from 148,700 to 141,000.