According to the latest labor force statistics between April and June 2020 released on July 20, Hong Kong's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 5.9% to 6.2%, the highest in more than 15 years.
Compared to the number from March to May 2020, the unemployment rate increased across almost all the major economic sectors, with more distinct increases observed in the decoration, repair and maintenance for buildings as well as import and export trade sector. The number of unemployed people increased by around 10,300 to 240,000.
The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr. Law Chi-kwong said that the labor market continued to deteriorate for the second quarter of 2020 as a whole, but the pressure faced by the labor market showed signs of easing.
Looking ahead, Law pointed out that the COVID-19 epidemic situations in certain parts of the world and a renewed surge in local cases lately serve as a timely reminder that the economic outlook is still subject to huge uncertainties. The local labor market situation going forward will depend very much on how the epidemic situations evolve.
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