Hong Kong’s road to recovery: Slowly, but surely
It has been a long, drawn-out year with the fight against the global pandemic, and as the world shifts its gears to adapt to the new normal, there are finally more optimistic signs observed. Hong Kong, where the unemployment rate in 2020 suffered due to both political protests and the impacts of the pandemic, is finally on a gradual track to recovery.
On 20 July 2021, Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department revealed that the unemployment rate has dropped sharply to 5.5% for the 3 month period ending in June. Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, this is the lowest the unemployment rate has been. A closer look at the labour market across sectors has also confirmed that unemployment dipped across almost all the major business areas. This is even inclusive of sectors that were severely impacted by the impacts of the pandemic, such as the retail sector, in which the unemployment rate declined by 1.4 percentage points.
Though figures still remain below pre-Covid rate, joblessness in many business services sectors such as real estate, insurance, and even retail, accommodation and restaurant sectors have dropped in tandem with the improvement of the economy. Data shows that In industries like finance, the number of people acquiring jobs has even grown.
Undoubtedly, Hong Kong’s local economy is gaining momentum and it is on track to a gradual recovery. Given Hong Kong’s vaccine bubble scheme and the easing restrictions, the local epidemic situation is stabilising and businesses are slowly picking up and starting to hire again. It is still expected for the economic growth to continue experiencing volatility, but as of now, it is still a positive checkpoint for Hong Kong.
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This article is written in reference from:
Cannix Yau. (2021, July 20). Hong Kong unemployment rate drops to 5.5 per cent as city brings Covid-19 situation under control. Retrieved July 22, 2021, from South China Morning Post website: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3141811/hong-kong-economy-gathers-steam-unemployment-drops
