Unemployment in Hong Kong :: Economics, Unemployment Essays

IntroductionThe unemployment locate became a hot topic in the past few months when it rose to3.5 per cent, a recent high for most 10 years. The jobless rate was higherthan the 3.2 per cent unemployment rate recorded in the May to July period. Theunderemployment rate in the June to August period rose to 2.5 per cent from 2.3per cent in the May to July period. Until recently, most workers who lost theirjobs were from the manufacturing sector. They were middle-aged factory workerswith few skills and little education. But in recent months a large way out ofemployees have been laid off in the retail and restaurant traffices.Unemployment has spilled over to the service sector from manufacturing sector.Hong Kong is facing a prolonged economic downturn.The high unemployment rate has raised many social and economic problems. Forexample, the number of people who commit suicide is increased. It is becausemore people had lost their jobs for a long time. It is a practiced threat to thelives of the poor. The unemployed people may also feel that it is unmeaningfulto live. As a result, they give commit suicide to solve the problem. Moreover,the high unemployment rate results in the increase of the rate of crime. Therewas an unemployed man who stole rice because he was too hungry and he did nothave money to charge buy food We can know how serious the unemployment rate is.By the way, higher unemployment rate causes lower purchasing power of people. Alot of kinds of business are affected. Many people lose confidence in economicsof Hong Kong. They do not believe unemployment will be improved. Some say thatthe presidential term should provide immediate assistance for the jobless. Some alsosay unemployment is due to the attraction of cheap labor across the border. TheGovernment can no daylong play the role of a bystander.All of these above show the influence of the unemployment. In spite of how manypeople who have talked about the topic of unemployment, everyone will becon cerned about this topic. The following sections will analyze this hot topic.Reasons for unemployment in Hong Kong1. Faster growth in total labor supply proportional to that of total employmentIn 1993 and 1994, the increase in Hong Kong labor force is 2.9% and 3.5%respectively. At the end of 1993, the total labour supply is 2 970 000. Changein the total labour supply is determined by the population growth, totalemployment and the emigration condition. If the population growth and the total