Hong Kong's unemployment rate remained unchanged in July, contrary to economists' forecast for a modest increase, preliminary data released by the Census and Statistics Department showed Thursday.
In the three months ended July, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 3.2 percent, as it did in the preceding April-June period. Economists were looking for a jobless rate of 3.3 percent.
There were around 128,500 unemployed persons in Hong Kong in July, up by about 3,000 compared to the April-June period.
The underemployment rate increased to 1.5 percent during the latest period from 1.4 percent in the three months to June.
Meanwhile, the number of persons in employment increased by around 4,300 sequentially to about 3.68 million in July.
"It is noteworthy that the recent private sector vacancy figures still demonstrate a generally positive hiring sentiment among employers," Labour and Welfare secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said. "Nevertheless, the employment situation in the near term still hinges on whether the pace of job creation is sufficient to absorb the influx of fresh graduates and school leavers into the labour market."
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