Hong Kong's Unemployment Rates Remain StableThe seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of Hong Kong stands at 4.6 percent in the February-April period of 2001, the same as that from January to March, according to the provisional statistics released Tuesday by the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong.The underemployment rate in February-April 2001, at 2.3 percent, was lower than that of 2.4 percent in January-March, according to the provisional statistics. Comparing February-April with January-March of 2001, decreases in the unemployment rate were observed in the transport, insurance and hotels sectors, yet increases were observed in the construction and manufacturing sectors. As to the underemployment rate, the decline was concentrated in the construction sector. A government secretariat spokesman noted that the unemployment situation remained stable in overall terms in the most recent months. Yet the unemployment rates in construction and manufacturing went up, affected by the state of the property market and the dip in domestic exports, the spokesman added. |
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