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Hong Kong’s Jobless Rate Surged to 5.4% During Covid Wave

  • Unemployment rate rises again, still at highest since June
  • Labor market should improve with eased restrictions: Gov
Morning commuters in Central district, Hong Kong. 

Morning commuters in Central district, Hong Kong. 

Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg
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Hong Kong’s unemployment rate surged to 5.4% for the three months ended April as the city’s Covid restrictions continued to weigh on businesses and keep people at home. 

The jobless rate was worse than the 5% rate expected by economists in a Bloomberg survey. The figure is the highest rate since June 2021, when unemployment also reached 5.4%. The underemployment rate rose to 3.8% from 3.1%, the Census and Statistics Department said in a report Thursday.