The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent during the August-October period in Hong Kong, hitting a 64-month low in the metropolis, statistics showed on Thursday.

However, the underemployment rate inched up from 2.3 percent to2.4 percent in the same period, according to the Census and Statistics Department.

The falling of the jobless rate was mainly reported in the industries and sectors of decoration and maintenance, real estate, insurance, import-export and retail trades, the department said.

For the underemployment rate, rises were mainly found in the decoration and maintenance, and manufacturing sectors.

Total employment rose by about 4,200 workers to an all-time high of 3,500,300, while the labor force shrank from 3,676,500 to 3,669,200.

The number of jobless people dropped from 180,400 in July-September to 168,900 in August-October, while the number of underemployed people rose from 86,200 to 89,500.

The department said the number of jobless fell below the 170,000 for the first time since mid-2001, thanks to the combined influence of a further increase in total employment and a contraction in the labor force between July-September and August-October.

The near-term outlook will mainly hinge on the growth of business activity and job creation in the corporate sector in the run-up to the Christmas and New Year holidays, the department said.

Despite steady improvements in the general employment scene, the mismatch in human resources brought by the structural change in the local economy still needs to be addressed, it added.

In October, the Labor Department netted 39,261 vacancies from the private sector, up 2.6 percent over the same period of last year. In the first 10 months of this year, the department achieved 100,660 job placements, up 8.2 percent over the same period of last year.

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2006)