Steady work: Employment remained stable for the quarter ending July with the unemployment and underemployment rates of 6.9% and 3.5% matching the April-June period.

Employment remained stable for the quarter ending July with the unemployment and underemployment rates of 6.9% and 3.5% matching the April-June period.

Falls in unemployment were seen in the retail trade, sanitary services, and welfare and community services sectors, whereas increases were seen in the decoration and maintenance, wholesale trade and manufacturing sectors.

The underemployment fall was concentrated in the decoration and maintenance sector, offsetting the rise in the amusement and recreational services sector.

Total employment rose by about 5,600 to 3.29 million. The total labour force increased by 13,300 to 3.54 million. Both figures for May-July are historical highs.

The number of unemployed people rose by 7,800 to 248,000. The number of underemployed was little changed at 122,000 as against 122,400 in the previous period.

FS cautious on employment situation

Financial Secretary Henry Tang said in view of the economic recovery and the effect of CEPA, about 100,000 new jobs have been created in the past year, adding that this is a very significant number.

However, he said improved sentiment has attracted more people back to the job market looking for work which will add pressure to the unemployment rate.

Mr Tang said the Government is cautious on the employment situation as the road ahead remains very challenging.

Fresh grads fail to slow labour growth

Despite a further gain in total employment in May-July, the total labour force showed relatively faster growth upon increased entry of fresh graduates and school leavers into the labour market.

Yet after discounting the influence of this seasonal factor, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady, even though the number of unemployed showed some increase.

The near-term outlook will depend on overall economic performance and particularly job-creation capacity in the corporate sector, relative to the further expansion in the local workforce.

While the unemployment rate remained stable, total employment soared to an all-time high of 3.29 million in May-July, up by 5,600 from the previous peak in April-June.

Overall labour market sentiment remained generally buoyant. For July, the Labour Department received 25,400 job vacancies from the private sector, the second highest since the peak of 26,400 in March.

The department received on average over 1,000 private sector vacancies on each working day in July. It also successfully placed 7,270 people into jobs, the third highest figure so far.

Labour force hits record high

The labour force in May-July rose by 13,000 to reach a record high of 3.54 million following the previous peak of 3.52 million in April-June.

The department provided more than 23,000 training and job attachment opportunities for young people entering the job market. They are the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme, Youth Work Experience & Training Scheme and Youth Self-employment Support Scheme.

Enrolment for the first two will run until August 26. The department will take on all eligible applicants for these two programmes. So far, more than 14,000 applications have been received.

Apart from these opportunities, the department also has 5,500 vacancies on its job vacancies database suitable for secondary school leavers.

It will stage a job fair for the retail industry at Olympian City in Kowloon on August 25, in which 15 retailers will offer more than 1,000 jobs. Many of the vacancies are suitable for school leavers.