Full employment aim: Financial Secretary Henry Tang pledges to continue to revive the economy.

The unemployment and underemployment rates for September to November remained at 6.7% and 3.2%. However, the number of employed surged 9,700 to a historic high of 3,308,000. The total labour force also increased, by 5,400 to 3,544,000.

Financial Secretary Henry Tang said the labour sector is still facing many challanges.

Speaking to the media today, Mr Tang said he is cautious yet optimistic about the economic outlook, and pledged to co-operate with all sectors to continue to revive the economy.

Looking ahead, while labour demand is expected to increase along with the pick-up in business activity around the Christmas and New Year holidays, whether the jobless rate will decline in the near term depends on the number of jobs created, compared with the growth in the workforce.

The Census & Statistics Department said the number of unemployed people dipped 4,300 to 236,000, while the number of underemployed people increased slightly by 1,000 to 113,000.

Joblessness dips in transport, education sectors

Decreases in the unemployment rate were mainly seen in the transport and education services sectors, while increases were more apparent in business services, welfare and community services, and sanitary services.

As to the underemployment rate, decreases were concentrated in the decoration and maintenance, and welfare and community services sectors, offsetting the increases seen in the transport, business services, and amusement and recreational services sectors.

Private sector vacancies up 55.3%

The labour market sentiment remained generally buoyant, with the number of vacancies received by the Labour Department in November at 29,260, a robust growth of 55.3% over a year earlier and 8.7% over October.

The department also helped place 8,131 job-seekers into jobs, the second highest record.

Meanwhile tourism continued to boom, with about 4.4 million Mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong under the Individual Visit Scheme and the return of long-haul visitors in recent months.

With inbound tourism staying vibrant, local consumption demand has continued to hold up well. For the first 10 months of this year, retail sales increased 11.4% in value over a year earlier.

The growth in retail business, in particular in the sales of consumer durables, is also a clear reflection of better consumer sentiment amid economic upturn and improved labour market conditions.