Hong Kong's jobless rate fell to a 13-year low in the past three months, but the jobs outlook may worsen soon.
The unemployment rate between June and August fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent between May and July, Census and Statistics Department figures show.
There were new jobs in construction, warehousing, transport, the food and beverage sector, and professional services. The number of people in work rose by about 10,800 from 3,625,800 in May-July to 3,636,600 in the June-August period, provisional figures show.
Despite the latest improvement, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung warned job-seekers that employers were becoming more prudent.
'Hiring sentiment among employers has turned more cautious amid the deepening euro zone sovereign debt crisis and the fragile economy in the United States,' he said.
His comments came as a quarterly survey of manpower by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management indicated the labour market would become less vibrant due to poorer market sentiment.
The study covered 87 companies with a total of 87,119 employees. Of these, 21.8 per cent intended to hire more staff in the third quarter of this year, nearly a third fewer than in the second quarter.
