The unemployment rate rose to 7.2%, a record high since 2004. Human resources consultants: or more companies fail

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Written by: Huang Yongyu and Yuan Shu

2021-03-16 16:46

Last update date: 2021-03-16 16:47

The new crown pneumonia epidemic has been repeated. The government announced the latest unemployment rate today (16th). The unemployment rate from December 2020 to February 2021 rose to 7.2%, which is 0.2% higher than the 7% in the previous period (November to January) The percentage point is a new high since 2004. The latest 261,600 people are unemployed.

The number of unemployed increased by about 8,300 and the number of underemployed increased by 6,400

The Census and Statistics Department today (16th) released the latest labor force statistics. In the latest quarter (December to February), the unemployment rate rose to 7.2%, and the underemployment rate also rose to 4.0%.

As for the number of unemployed persons, the number of unemployed persons rose from 253,300 to 261,600, an increase of about 8,300, and the number of underemployed persons also rose from 148,200 to 154,600 in the same period, an increase of about 6,400.

(Profile picture / Photo by Liang Pengwei)

▼The economy is hit hard by the epidemic, and job fairs of the Labour Department are flooded▼

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▼The economy is hit hard by the epidemic, and job fairs are crowded▼

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The Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi Kwong said that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 7.2%, the highest level since 2004.

The underemployment rate also rose by 0.2 percentage points to 4.0%, the highest post-SARS.

At the same time, the total number of employed persons fell by 0.6% from the previous period to 3,610,100, and the number of unemployed persons increased by 3.3% to 261,600.

The unemployment rate in the food service industry drops slightly, the retail industry job market is sluggish

Luo Zhiguang said that by industry analysis, the unemployment rate combined with consumer and tourism-related industries (ie, retail, accommodation and catering services) remained high at 11.1% from December 2020 to February 2021, but compared to November 2020. As of January 2021, it has fallen by 0.2 percentage points.

Among them, the unemployment rate in the catering service activity industry fell from 14.7% to 14.1%, and the unemployment rate in the retail industry rose from 8.9% to 9.1%.

Unemployment in most other industries has deteriorated, especially in import and export trade, postal and express activities, education, and arts, entertainment and recreational activities.

The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Law Chi Kwong.

(Data Picture/Photo by Liang Pengwei)

Regarding the future, Luo Zhiguang said that because the epidemic has not yet been fully controlled and the inbound tourism industry is still frozen, the labor market will still face challenges in the short term.

With the launch of the COVID-19 vaccination program, the threat of the epidemic is expected to gradually diminish, and this will help ease the pressure on the labor market later this year.

The government will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Luo Zhiguang: Recruitment Expo will be held next week

Luo said that the Labour Department’s "YPTP" will assist young people, and subsidized non-governmental organizations will provide 12 months of on-the-job training for the college to enhance employability.

In addition, the new issue of "Employment ‧ Start" relaxes the definition of long-term unemployment, so that more young people in need can benefit from this program.

He also said that the "Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Program" has been launched, providing 2,000 on-the-job training places for university graduates.

In addition, the Labour Department will hold the "Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Program Recruitment Expo" at the MacPherson Stadium from March 23 to 24, and will also hold an online job fair at the same time.

There will be more than 30 employers participating in the "Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Program".

At the same time, the Labour Department will continue to receive and publish job vacancy information from different industries.

The Labour Department recorded a total of 56,227 vacancies from the private sector in February 2021, an increase of 28.2% from the figure in January and an increase of 57.1% year-on-year.

Job seekers can use the Labour Department's online platforms (such as the "Interactive Employment Service" website) to obtain information on these vacancies.

The highest unemployment rate during SARS was 8.7% HR: Not optimistic, or more companies will close down

However, the latest unemployment rate has not yet reached the highest level of SARS.

Looking through the data, Hong Kong’s unemployment rate was hit hard by the SARS epidemic in 2003, and the unemployment rate in Hong Kong was 7.9%. In the quarter from May to July, the unemployment rate in Hong Kong hit a record high of 8.7%, and the number of unemployed exceeded 300,000.

Zhou Qiping, managing director of Yizhi Consulting Company.

(Profile picture)

Recently, a group held a job fair, providing nearly a thousand positions, attracting 10,000 people to sign up, and more than 2,000 people inquired on the spot.

Zhou Qiping, the managing director of Yizhi Consulting Company, believes that the situation is not common. "How likely is the (unemployment rate) high", only seen after the financial tsunami and SARS.

She believes that due to the repeated epidemics and the long period of time, the unemployment rate cannot reflect the status of confirmed clients. "There are many people hanging salt water, underemployed and given unpaid leave." She also said that if the government did not introduce a job-guarantee program, the unemployment rate might have been long since. Surpass the SARS high position.

All UA theaters announced the closure in early March. More than a hundred employees suddenly became unemployed. Will more companies "cannot stand it" in the future?

Zhou Qiping believes that depending on the development of the epidemic, many companies just "succumb to the next step." "If the vaccination rate is not ideal, the number of confirmed cases will rise again, and the epidemic prevention measures will be tightened again, only in continuous cycles."

She believes that the current situation is not optimistic and that in the future or more companies will declare bankruptcy.

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