Violent turmoil smashes the wages of wage earners, and the company’s layoffs and wage cuts are “just starting”, and the unemployment situation will worsen further!
The Census and Statistics Department announced yesterday that the unemployment rate was 2.9% from May to July this year, up 0.1 percentage point from April to June this year. It was the first increase since February last year and about one and a half years. The “unemployed army” increased about From 4,200 to 118,500, the catering industry is the “hardest hit”. The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Lo Chi-kwong, said that the economy will continue to be weak in the coming months and the local labour market will inevitably face greater pressure. Along with local retail sales performance, it has been falling for five months. Some scholars accepted the interview with Ta Kung Pao. The recent conflict has already scared investors. Under the economic slowdown, the unemployment rate is likely to continue to deteriorate during the year. 3.3% level.
According to statistics from the Census and Statistics Department, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the period from May to July this year was 2.9%, a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points from the 2.8% recorded in April-June. In the same period, the underemployment rate remained unchanged at 1%. At present, the total number of local employed persons is 3.876 million, a decrease of about 3300 from the previous statistics. The number of unemployed people who did not adjust seasonally during the same period was 118,500, an increase of about 4,200.
Scholars expect to rise to 3.3% before the end of the year
Luo Zhiguang said that the unemployment rate in Hong Kong has not risen slightly after more than a year, but it is still at a low level. The supply and demand situation of manpower in most industries has remained generally stable. However, as the consumer market continues to be soft, the unemployment rate in the retail, accommodation and food service industries is relatively high. Under the decline in trade, the pressure on the import and export trade industry has increased, and its unemployment rate has risen substantially since the beginning of the year. Luo Zhiguang also said that the economy is expected to remain weak in the coming months and the local labor market will inevitably face more pressure. The Government will closely monitor the situation in the labour market.
Li Zhaobo, co-director of the International Trade and Chinese Enterprise Program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that apart from the pessimistic factors such as the Sino-US trade war, Hong Kong’s recent series of conflicts have hit the economy. “Investors are shocked and everything is slowing down and expanding. The incident at the airport last Tuesday (13th) has made overseas business travelers lose their confidence in visiting Hong Kong. There are certain concerns.
Li Zhaobo also said that compared with the 1997 financial turmoil and the 2003 SARS period, the unemployment rate exceeded 6% at present, and the current slight increase did not reflect the worst. He predicted that even if the “worst period” has passed, the conflict will be settled as soon as possible, and the unemployment rate will rise to 3.1% to 3.3% this year. Among them, retail, catering and tourism are the worst.
The violent spread, the Legislative Council Building was also devastated in early July. The Council was forced to stop. The provision for public works projects in the year was reduced by nearly 60%. 44 projects failed to obtain funding as scheduled. Many infrastructure and livelihood facilities were affected, including the redevelopment of four hospitals. It can provide about 4,000 units of the Hengzhou Public Housing Development Plan. The Labour and Welfare Bureau originally applied for $20 billion from the Finance Committee to provide additional 158 welfare facilities, including 15 elderly day care centres, 48 elderly neighbourhood centres and 7 elderly district centres.
Yan Wenyu, deputy spokesperson for the DAB, said that the unemployment rate has been raised to the local economy. He urged the government to “stop bleeding” as soon as possible, increase government spending, speed up the construction of major projects and stimulate local consumption, increase domestic demand and stabilize economic. At the same time, the chaos in Hong Kong has directly affected the lives of the people. It has also weakened the consumer market. All sectors of the community should say no to the violence and stop the chaos to prevent the financial turmoil from reappearing in Hong Kong.
Over 10 restaurants closed in the past two months
Guo Hongxing, chairman of the General Staff Association of the Catering Industry, said that since the June conflict, more than 10 Chinese restaurants have been closed in the past two months, and about 200 employees have applied for help. The situation is extraordinary. Some restaurants have already requested “long-term work” to provide additional unpaid leave and reduce control costs such as “small workers”. He hopes that the demonstration will end soon and allow the peasant workers to “have a job and have a good meal.”
Yang Wei, chairman of the Hong Kong Food Management Association, said that the summer season has always been the off-season of the restaurant. Coupled with the conflict, the diners are worried. Even if the restaurant is open as usual, there is no business. In recent months, the business has fallen by at least 20% to 30% compared with the same period last year. In the hardest hit areas such as Central and Causeway Bay, the losses were as high as 50%.