On the upswing: Financial Secretary Henry Tang says he is cautiously optimistic about Hong Kong's future.

Continued expansion in overall employment and a slight fall in labour supply has seen the unemployment rate for the quarter ending February fall to a 39-month low of 6.1%, down 0.3% on the quarter ending January.

Total employment rose by 3,000 to reach a new high of 3.346 million, with underemployment falling from 3.1% to 3%. The total labour force shrank by 1,600 to 3.555 million.

The number of unemployed fell 4,600 to 209,000, the lowest since the end of 2001. The number of underemployed fell by 6,000 to 105,000.

Sectors improve

Falls in the unemployment rate were mainly observed in the real estate, sanitary services, amusement and recreational services, and retail trade sectors. For the underemployment rate, falls were mainly seen in the construction, communications, business services and manufacturing sectors.

The improvement was mainly due to the combined influence of continued expansion in overall employment and a slight reduction in total labour supply. The near-term outlook for the unemployment rate will depend on the pace of overall economic growth and job creation.

In February, the Labour Department received 24,112 vacancies from the private sector, an all-time high for the month. Despite the Lunar New Year holidays, the number of vacancies from the private sector not only stayed at the high level of 1,200 for each working day but the monthly total also recorded a 1.9% increase over January.

Gov't remains cautiously optimistic

Financial Secretary Henry Tang said this is the largest single-month drop in 15 months and this is a reflection of the improvement in our economy.

He said he remains cautiously optimistic about the future.