Positive signs: Financial Secretary Henry Tang says he is cautiously optimistic about Hong Kong's employment status.

As the labour market sentiment remained buoyant and the local economy continued picking up, the unemployment rate for the quarter ending January fell to a three-year low of 6.4%, down 0.1% on the October-to-December period.

Total employment rose by 14,500 to reach a new high of 3.34 million, with the underemployment rate holding stable at 3.1%. The total labour force rose by 600 to 3.556 million.

Unemployment falls were mainly seen in the manufacturing, communications, real estate and sanitary services sectors. The underemployment fall was concentrated in the retail trade and welfare and community services sectors, offsetting the increases seen in the construction and sanitary services sectors.

The number of unemployed people fell by 12,900 to 214,000, the lowest since the end of 2001. Yet the number of underemployed, at 111,000, was little changed from that of 110,800 in the October-to-December period.

Cautiously optimistic

The Government said the short-term outlook for unemployment will continue to hinge on the rate of job creation in the corporate sector relative to the growth in labour force. 

Financial Secretary Henry Tang said he is cautiously optimistic about Hong Kong's employment situation.

Since a number of tourism projects will start soon, more new jobs are expected to be created.

Hong Kong people will also have better chance of salary increases as the economy continues picking up, he added.

However, he said Hong Kong still faces challenges as it is going through economic restructuring. The Government will work closely with various sectors to deal with the issue.

Private sector vacancies up 74%

In January, the Labour Department received 23,657 vacancies from the private sector, representing a substantial increase of 74% over the same month last year. This is also an all-time high for the month of January.

Meanwhile, the department achieved 7,316 job placements for the month, up 57% over January 2004.

To meet the employers' recruitment needs and to assist job seekers, the department will stage a major job fair - the Recruitment Expo 2005 - on March 9 at the Convention & Exhibition Centre.