Jobless total rises to 5.2 percent
21-04-2009
The latest unemployment rate has risen to 5.2 percent, the highest in five years.
The previous figure was 5 percent. Job losses are mainly in the construction, transportation and financing sectors.
There are currently 187,000 people out of work. The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Matthew Cheung, said the unemployment rate would continue to face upward pressure in the near term.
He said the economic climate remained tough, and the labour market was weak. But he believed that measures being taken to stimulate the economy would begin to have a positive effect on employment.
