Provisional figures from Hong Kong's Census& Statistics Department indicated that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent for October-December 2005, unchanged from September-November 2005. The provisional underemployment rateedged up from 2.4 percent to 2.5 percent.

Comparing October-December with September-November, there were more jobs in the manufacturing, hotels, transport, and sanitary-services sectors.

According to the press release, for 2005 as a whole, the jobless rate averaged 5.6 percent, well below the 6.8 percent in 2004. This was due to faster growth in total employment-- 2.3 percent-- than the 1 percent growth in the total labor force.

Looking ahead, labor demand is expected to stay firm in the run-up to the Lunar New Year, said the department. Enditem