Job hunting: Permanent Secretary for Economic Development & Labour Matthew Cheung chats with two young job seekers at the Tuen Mun job fair.

The Labour Department received over 43,300 vacancies from the private sector in August, up 53% over the same period last year, an all-time high for a single month.

Speaking at a job fair in Tuen Mun today, Permanent Secretary for Economic Development & Labour Matthew Cheung said 94% of the vacancies are permanent jobs.

The three major sectors offering vacancies are business services (4,890 vacancies), catering (4,240) and real estate (4,180).

Mr Cheung said the department has also set a new record by placing over 10,000 people into employment in August, up 10% on last month. In the first seven months of this year, the department placed 60,324 people into employment.

Jobless trend changes

The falling unemployment rate trend seems to have spread from occupations of high-skill level to relatively lower skill level, such as non-skilled workers in the wholesale and retail, and catering sectors.

"The pattern of employment has also moved from part-time jobs to full-time jobs. People working for over 30 hours a week have increased to 92% in the second quarter in 2005 from 88% in the first quarter this year and 89% one year ago," he said.

Because of seasonal factors, Mr Cheung expects the unemployment rate to fluctuate and face pressure to reverse its downward trend as fresh graduates and school leavers join the labour market in the next few months.

"But overall, since our economic fundamentals remain strong (the GDP growth in the second quarter in 2005 is 6.8% in real terms, and the GDP growth in the first half of the year is 6.5%), we are cautiously optimistic about the employment outlook."