FS Expects Unemployment Rate To Drop 'signficantly'

Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on Sunday he was anticipating the upcoming unemployment rate to drop significantly as the economy improved.

Hong Kong's first quarter GDP rebounded by 7.9 percent – ending six consecutive quarters of contraction – while the jobless rate had dropped from the historic high of 7.2 percent to 6.8 percent.

"It can be anticipated that as the economy and virus situation improve, the latest unemployment and underemployment rates will drop significantly," Chan wrote in his weekly blog.

But he said whether the job market could continue to improve and push salaries up would very much depend on keeping the epidemic situation under control.

Getting inoculated is a key step towards supporting the economy and the job market, the finance chief added.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said Hong Kong must not let Covid cases rebound and drag down the economic recovery.

He again called on people to get vaccinated to build up herd immunity in the population, warning people not to let down their guard even though the discovery of more infectious strains of Covid in the community didn't lead to a mass outbreak.