Looking up: Financial Secretary Henry Tang says he is cautiously optimistic the general employment situation remains good.

Employment remained stable for the quarter ending January with the unemployment and underemployment rates at 7.3% and 3.3% respectively, the same as the October-December period.

In the past three months, unemployment fell in the construction, manufacturing, restaurant, and welfare and community services sectors, offsetting increases seen in real estate, business services and sanitary services.

Underemployment fell in the decoration and maintenance and restaurant sectors. It offset increases in the retail trade and sanitary services sectors.

Employment situation remains good

Financial Secretary Henry Tang said he is cautiously optimistic the general employment situation remains good.

He said the employment situation continued to improve in the last quarter, with the total number of unemployed people continuing to fall, while at the same time total employment rose.

Mr Tang said employment will continue to be a challenge, and we all need to work harder to further improve the economy.

Total employment on the rise

Total employment grew from 3,235,300 people in the October-December period to 3,240,000 in the November-January period, while the total labour force fell from 3,488,500 to 3,485,000.

The number of unemployed people dropped from 253,200 in October-December to 245,000 in November-January. The number of underemployed people was little changed at 115,700 and 115,000 respectively in the two periods.

The total number of unemployed people continued to fall, by around 8,200 between the two periods. The drop was due to the combined effect of an increase in employment particularly in decoration and maintenance, the retail trade, transport and the import/export trade, and a contraction in labour supply.

After netting out the influence of the usual seasonal increase in employment around the Lunar New Year period, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate showed little change between the two periods.

Labour market improving

The increase in total employment shows the labour market is improving. This positive sentiment is also reflected in the number of vacancies that the Labour Department has recently received from the private sector.

In the first two weeks of this month, the Labour Department received an average of 1,000 vacancies daily, covering a wide range of occupations and a significant number requiring only basic skills.

These, together with the 11,700 temporary jobs in the public sector to be extended by the Government to meet operational needs, will provide job opportunities for those with lower educational attainment and skill levels.

The department will hold a major job fair at Central Library in Causeway Bay on February 27. Thirty employers will offer 3,100 jobs in the retail, catering, business services, real estate and property management and security sectors.