Hong Kong Jobless Rate at 13-Year Low

A sustained export boom has powered record employment for Hong Kong, bringing down its unemployment rate to a better-than-forecast 3.2 percent for the June-August period from 3.4 percent during May through July.

The jobless rate is at its lowest point since February 1998 and is better than the 3.5 percent concensus estimate forecast by a Dow Jones poll of seven economists. However, analysts point out that the European debt crisis may cause a slowdown that could discourage more hiring.

The total number of jobs jumped by around 10,800 to 3,636,600, the most ever for China’s special administrative zone of seven million.

“The oomph in August’s strong job market data proves that the impact of cooler Western demand has yet to hit Hong Kong’s job market,” opined HSBC analyst Donna Kwok. “Although turbulence in global financial markets has started to affect local business sentiment, the impact may take longer than usual to feed through this time.”

HSBC itself plans to cut 3,000 Hong Kong jobs over the coming three years as it shifts focus to faster-growing emerging markets.

Hong Kong suffered a peak jobless rate of 5.5 percent in mid-2009 due to the impact of the global financial crisis that begain in August of 2008. It has since enjoyed a robust recovery powered by its role as the leading financial hub for both Chinese and foreign corporations engaged in China trade and investments.

During the past several months Hong Kong has also enjoyed unexpected growth as some international corporations shifted executives from Japan to avoid concerns over the Fukushima nuclear crisis. In the longer term, however, Hong Kong is expected to lose some of its importance as a financial hub to other Chinese cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.