The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Hong Kong jumped to 5.2 percent in the three months to April 2020 from 4.2 percent in the previous period. It was the highest jobless rate since the three months to October 2010, amid the coronavirus crisis. The number of unemployed persons increased by around 40,300 to 202,500 and the number of underemployed rose by around 35,800 to 118,600. Meantime, the number of employed dropped by around 62,600 to 3.66 million while the labour force declined by around 22,400 to 3.86 million. The unemployment rate in the consumption and tourism-related sectors combined soared to 9%, the highest in more than 15 years. In particular, the unemployment and underemployment rates in food and beverage service activities surged to 12% and 8.4%, respectively. To preserve the vitality of the economy, the Government has rolled out relief measures of unprecedented scale, including a series of measures on job retention and job creation.

Unemployment Rate in Hong Kong averaged 3.65 percent from 1981 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 8.50 percent in June of 2003 and a record low of 1 percent in July of 1989. This page provides the latest reported value for - Hong Kong Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. Hong Kong Unemployment Rate - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on June of 2020. source: Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong

Unemployment Rate in Hong Kong is expected to be 4.50 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Unemployment Rate in Hong Kong to stand at 5.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Hong Kong Unemployment Rate is projected to trend around 5.30 percent in 2021 and 4.20 percent in 2022, according to our econometric models.

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Hong Kong Unemployment Rate

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
5.20 4.20 8.50 1.00 1981 - 2020 percent Monthly
SA


Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2020-02-18 08:30 AM Jan 3.4% 3.3% 3.3% 3.30%
2020-03-17 08:30 AM Feb 3.7% 3.4% 3.5% 3.50%
2020-04-20 08:30 AM Mar 4.2% 3.7% 3.90%
2020-05-19 08:30 AM Apr 5.2% 4.2% 4.3%
2020-06-16 08:30 AM May 5.2% 5.0%
2020-07-20 08:30 AM Jun 4.8%
2020-08-19 08:30 AM Jul
2020-09-17 08:30 AM Aug
Go to our Calendar for more events. Or learn more about the Calendar API for direct access.


News Stream
Hong Kong Jobless Rate Highest since 2010
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Hong Kong jumped to 5.2 percent in the three months to April 2020 from 4.2 percent in the previous period. It was the highest jobless rate since the three months to October 2010, amid the coronavirus crisis. The number of unemployed persons increased by around 40,300 to 202,500 and the number of underemployed rose by around 35,800 to 118,600. Meantime, the number of employed dropped by around 62,600 to 3.66 million while the labour force declined by around 22,400 to 3.86 million. The unemployment rate in the consumption and tourism-related sectors combined soared to 9%, the highest in more than 15 years. In particular, the unemployment and underemployment rates in food and beverage service activities surged to 12% and 8.4%, respectively. To preserve the vitality of the economy, the Government has rolled out relief measures of unprecedented scale, including a series of measures on job retention and job creation.
2020-05-19
Hong Kong Jobless Rate Highest since 2010
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Hong Kong increased to 4.2 percent in the three months to March 2020 from 3.7 percent in the previous period. It was the highest jobless rate since the three months to October 2010, as the number of unemployed persons rose by around 28,100 to 162,200 and the number of underemployed went up by around 23,700 to 82,800. Meantime, the number of employed declined by around 48,800 to 3.72 million while the labour force also decreased by around 20,800 to 3.90 million. The unemployment rate in the consumption and tourism-related sectors combined advanced to 6.8 percent, the highest in over a decade. In particular, unemployment in the food and beverage service activities was extremely severe, with the jobless rate soaring to 8.6 percent. The labour market will continue to face significant pressure in the near term amid the coronavirus crisis.
2020-04-20
Hong Kong Jobless Rate Highest since 2011
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Hong Kong rose to 3.7 percent in the three months to February of 2020 from 3.4 percent in the prior period and above market expectations of 3.5 percent. It was the highest jobless rate since the three months to January of 2011. The number of unemployed persons increased by around 11,800 to 134,100 and the number of underemployed also rose by around 11,800 to 59,100, the same as in the previous period. Meantime, the number of employed fell by 34,400 to 3.77 million while the labour force also decreased by around 22,500 to 3.90 million. The unemployment rate in the consumption and tourism-related sectors surged to 6.1% and 2.5% respectively, both the highest in about a decade. The labour market is expected to be subject to even more pressure in the near term, as the coronavirus outbreak has already caused severe disruptions to caused severe disruptions to a wide range of economic activities and dampened economic sentiment.
2020-03-17
Hong Kong Jobless Rate Highest since 2016
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Hong Kong rose to 3.4 percent in the three months to January 2020 from 3.3 percent in the prior period and above market expectations of 3.3 percent. It was the highest jobless rate since the three months to November 2017. The number of unemployed persons were down by around 1,700 to 122,300 and the number of underemployed was 47,400, the same as in the previous period. Meantime, the number of employed fell by 14,600 to 3.80 million and the labour force also decreased by around 16,300 to 3.93 million. The unemployment rate in the consumption and tourism-related sectors stayed at 5.2%, the highest in more than three years while the jobless rate of the construction sector increased further to 5.7%, the highest level in close to six years. The labour market is expected to be subject to even more pressure in the near term, as the coronavirus outbreak has already caused severe disruptions to a wide range of economic activities.
2020-02-18

Hong Kong Unemployment Rate
In Hong Kong, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.