HK's Unemployment Rate Beginning to Stabilize: Official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, August 19, 2003

HK's Unemployment Rate Beginning to Stabilize: Official

Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Henry Tang noted here Monday on the release of the latest unemployment rate that he believed the rate is beginning to stabilize.

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Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Henry Tang noted here Monday on the release of the latest unemployment rate that he believed the rate is beginning to stabilize.

Tang noted that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May to July is 8.7 percent, which is a 0.1 percent increase compared with the previous three months. The underemployment rate has improved to 4.2 percent, which is an improvement of 0.1 percent from 4.3 percent.

"I believe that the unemployment rate is beginning to stabilize," he said, adding that "the increase has moderated and therefore it tends to become more stabilized. We also believe that this moderation shows that our economy is beginning to show some signs of recovery and I hope we can realize this recovery and see improving figures some time soon."

Tsang pointed out that Hong Kong is seeing a significant increase in inbound tourism, as the airport is showing it is almost back to pre-SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) levelsin terms of the number of passengers per day.

The financial secretary said that he was cautiously optimistic that Hong Kong was now coming out of the unemployment peak.

"However, because unemployment figures are a lag indicator, it is difficult to say at this point in time whether next month when I announce the figures for June to August it will show an improvement," he added.

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