Hong Kong's Jobless Rate Slides to 20-Month Low of 4.2%, Aiding Recovery
Hong Kong’s unemployment rate fell to the lowest in 20 months, boosting consumption and helping the city sustain its recovery.
The rate for the three months ended Aug. 31 was 4.2 percent, seasonally adjusted, the government said on its website today. The median estate of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for unemployment to stay at 4.3 percent, unchanged from May- through-July.
Financial Secretary John Tsang said in August that the labor market may keep improving after the city reported a third straight quarterly expansion from a year earlier. Risks to the economy include signs that global export demand could weaken and the threat of a bubble in real estate.
“Better job and income prospects boost household sentiment and consumption,” Donna Kwok, a Hong Kong-based economist at HSBC Holdings Plc., said before today’s report.
Matthew Cheung, Hong Kong’s labor secretary, said in the statement that the latest figures showed that graduates and school leavers had been able to secure jobs over the summer.
The introduction of a minimum wage next year may push up costs for employers such as Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd., an operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores in the city. Cheung said in July that the legislation could lead to some job losses, including for the unskilled and the elderly.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sophie Leung in Hong Kong at sleung59@bloomberg.net
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