Pedestrians walk past a shuttered store in the Central district of Hong Kong, China, on Sunday, July 19, 2020. Hong Kongs new coronavirus outbreak has surpassed the magnitude of its previous waves of infection, in a cautionary tale that the worst may be yet to come in the global pandemic. (ROY LIU / BLOOMBERG)

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate rose in June to the highest in more than 15 years, as the city’s economy remains under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic as well as escalating US-China tensions.

Hong Kong’s surging jobless total is the latest troubling indicator for an economy mired in its deepest recession on record amid the coronavirus outbreak

The jobless rate rose to 6.2 percent for the April to June period, below the median forecast of 6.4 percent among economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The latest reading is the highest since January 2005. The increase marks nine straight months of worsening unemployment, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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Hong Kong’s surging jobless total is the latest troubling indicator for an economy mired in its deepest recession on record amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“The renewed surge in local cases lately serve as a timely reminder that the economic outlook is still subject to huge uncertainties,” Secretary for Labor and Welfare Law Chi-kwong was quoted as saying in a press release. “The local labor market situation going forward will depend very much on how the global and local epidemic situations evolve.”

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The labor force total inched higher, but the number of unemployed also rose by about 10,000 people to 240,700. Total employment was largely unchanged, suggesting some stabilization at the end of the quarter, Law said.

Unemployment increased across almost all industries in the period, with the consumption and tourism-related sectors rising to 10.7 percent in the period, the highest since October 2003 and the aftermath of the SARS crisis.

Joblessness in the food and beverage sector stayed near the post-SARS high at 14.7 percent, according to the government release.

Joblessness in the import and export trade, warehousing and support activities for transport and the decoration, repair and maintenance of buildings rose to multi-year highs, the report added.

Rising unemployment also has led to a greater number of people competing for fewer jobs, worsening the city’s already wide wealth gap as tens of thousands have been thrown out of work with little social safety net.

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