[Commentary] On April 20, the Hong Kong SAR Government released the unemployment rate for March. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 3.7% from December 2019 to February 2020 to 4.2 from January to March 2020 %, The underemployment rate also increased from 1.5% from December 2019 to February 2020 to 2.1% from January to March 2020.
【Commentary】 The SAR government announced that compared with December 2019 to February 2020, the unemployment rate and underemployment rate of most major economic sectors in Hong Kong have increased from January to March 2020, of which the increase is more significant Industries include construction, education, transportation and retail, accommodation and catering services. The total number of employed people fell from 37.688 million people from December 2019 to February 2020 to 3.72 million people from January to March 2020. The total labor force during the same period also fell from 3.903 million to 3.882 million people.
[Commentary] The Secretary for Labor and Welfare of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Luo Zhiguang, said that the labor market in Hong Kong has deteriorated sharply. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is the highest in the past nine years, and the underemployment rate is the highest in the past ten years. The year-on-year decline in total employment and the labor force has further expanded to 3.6% and 2.2% respectively, both of which are the largest declines since record.
[Commentary] Wu Hongbin, Chairman of the Chinese Manufacturers ’Association of Hong Kong, said that the riots in Hong Kong society in 2019 and the new coronary pneumonia epidemic in 2020 have caused serious interference to many economic activities in Hong Kong.
[Same period] Wu Hongbin, President of the Chinese Manufacturers Association of Hong Kong
(2019) The social incident that started last year has greatly affected many catering service industries in some hard-hit areas. Many hotel and tourism industries in Hong Kong have had a large impact. The epidemic has affected the tourism industry even more. However, under two double blows, Hong Kong as a whole faced a major economic dilemma.
[Commentary] Wu Hongbin also said that according to his understanding, the unemployment rate in Hong Kong's service industry, catering industry and other industries has reached 8%. He is worried that due to the worsening economic conditions, the phenomenon of high unemployment rate will extend to other industries, such as export trade industries. Will be affected.
[Same period] Wu Hongbin, President of the Chinese Manufacturers Association of Hong Kong
Our worry is that the unemployment rate (in the future) will exceed 5%, and may even be as high as 7% or 8%. If the economy cannot recover, many companies now temporarily retain talent, (if) in the case of no way After this year, layoffs are possible next year, so we all hope that Hong Kong can resume normal life as soon as possible.
[Explanation] Wu Hongbin said that the SAR government has launched two rounds of anti-epidemic and anti-epidemic funds, which has helped many enterprises to overcome difficulties, reduce layoffs, and help reduce the unemployment rate.
Reporter Zheng Haoxi from Hong Kong
Editor in charge: [Wang Kai]