Unemployment Rates Up Sharply For Tourism, Catering In Hong Kong

Unemployment rates in tourism and catering continued to spike in the past three months in Hong Kong as violent incidents kept weighing on consumer-related industries

Hong Kong, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Oct, 2019 ) :Unemployment rates in tourism and catering continued to spike in the past three months in Hong Kong as violent incidents kept weighing on consumer-related industries.

The unemployment rate of the consumption- and tourism-related segment increased further to 4.9 percent during July-September period, the highest in more than two years, Law Chi-kwong, secretary for labor and welfare of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said on Friday.

In particular, the unemployment rate of the food and beverage service activities sector rose sharply to a six-year high of 6 percent, Law said.

Law attributed the hikes to weak local consumption and plunging visitor arrivals caused by local social incidents. "Worsened economic conditions will put increasing pressure on the local labor market in the near term." Efforts will be taken to help stabilize the job market, including the provision of a retention allowance to encourage on-the-job training, Law said.

Hong Kong's overall unemployment rate stood at 2.9 percent in the past three months ending September, flat with that of the June-August period, according to the Census and Statistics Department. The underemployment rate also remained unchanged at 1 percent.