HK's jobless rate stays at 3.4%

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's seasonally adjusted jobless rate during January to March stood at 3.4 percent, the city's statistic department said Thursday.

The underemployment rate rose to 1.6 percent in the three months ended March from 1.5 percent in the three months ended February, according to the data.

Total employment increased by around 1,000 to 3,649,600 in January to March. Over the same period, the labor force also increased by around 6,000 to 3,773,700.

The number of unemployed persons increased by around 5,000 to 124,100 in the noted period, and the number of underemployed persons increased by around 2,100 to 58,600.

The secretary for the city's labor and welfare department Matthew Cheung said, on the short-term outlook, while employers' hiring sentiment seems to have revived lately, the employment situation going forward continues to hinge crucially on the overall economic growth and the pace of job creation in the corporate sector.

He said the uncertainties in the external environment, in particular those over the lackluster performance of major economies and the hovering euro zone debt crisis, remain a cause of concern, and the department will continue to monitor development closely.