Workers sanitize the pavement along a street in Hong Kong’s Wanchai area on Jan 18, 2022. (BERTHA WANG / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's jobless rate continued to drop over the past three months amid a sustained economic recovery, official data showed Tuesday.

The unemployment rate in the global financial hub fell to 3.9 percent during the October-December period, down from 4.1 percent seen in between September and November, the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said in a report.

Secretary for Labor and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said due to the improvement of consumer sentiment in the fourth quarter of last year, the unemployment rate of the consumption- and tourism-related sectors combined fell by 0.9 percentage point to 5.4%

The underemployment rate went down from 1.8 percent to 1.7 percent during the same period.

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Almost all sectors saw declines in the jobless rate, with more distinct decreases seen in the construction sector, retail, accommodation and food services sector, and education sector. As to the underemployment rate, decreases were mainly seen in the transportation sector and education sector.

During the period, total employment increased by around 7,400 to 3.68 million while the labor force decreased by around 7,300 to 3.82 million.

Secretary for Labor and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said due to the improvement of consumer sentiment in the fourth quarter of last year, the unemployment rate of the consumption- and tourism-related sectors combined fell by 0.9 percentage point to 5.4 percent. 

Among these sectors, the unemployment rates of the food and beverage service activities sector and the retail sector decreased by 1.0 percentage point and 0.9 percentage point to 5.9 percent and 5.2 percent respectively.

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Looking ahead, Law said with the new wave of the local epidemic and the tightened social distancing measures in response, the employment situation of the consumption-related sectors could be subject to some pressure in the near term.

"Nevertheless, the latest round of measures under the Anti-epidemic Fund should provide some relief," he said. 

The labor market developments in the coming months would hinge on the local epidemic situation and the pace of economic recovery, he added. 

"The community should abide by the anti-epidemic measures and strive towards wider coverage of vaccination, in order to put the local epidemic under control as swiftly as possible," Law noted.