Hong Kong's unemployment rate has risen to 4.6 percent which is the first time since mid-2009
Hong Kong's unemployment rate has risen for the first time since mid-2009, to 4.6 percent, as uncertainties in overseas markets dampen hiring.

The jobless rate for March to May was up 0.2 percentage point from 4.4 percent for February to April, while total employment fell by around 7,100 to 3,483,300 during the period, according to the Census and Statistics Department.

"Some employers were more cautious in hiring, resulting in a decrease in total employment," Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said yesterday.

Hang Seng Bank (0011) senior economist Irina Fan Yuen-yee believes the jobless rate could rise to 4.7 percent or higher in coming months as summer is the peak season for job-hunting.

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However, Fan believes the full-year jobless figure may dip back to 4.4 percent if the situation in Europe improves.

"Trading firms and logistics companies, which provide jobs for 25 percent of the labor force, could hire more people when the external environment becomes more stable," she said.

Bank of East Asia (0023) projects the jobless rate to fall to 4 percent within this year, if Europe's debt crisis does not deteriorate further.

"We expect the figure to stay in a narrow range for a few months and then start to improve by the end of the third quarter," BEA chief economist Paul Tang Sai-on said.

Cheung stressed that Hong Kong's overall economic performance remains largely positive.