Greater Bay Area set to boost HK development

The outside world may not be optimistic about the economic prospects of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, but a closer look will show Hong Kong's economic and employment conditions remain sound. And by fully integrating into the under-construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong can inject new vitality into its economy, especially its job market.

Hong Kong's GDP grew by 3 percent year-on-year in 2018, but slowed to only 0.6 percent in the first quarter of this year. The GDP growth for the whole of 2019 is still expected to be between 2 and 3 percent, though. Despite being low, Hong Kong's economic growth rate is healthy compared with the 0.5-1 percent growth of some European Union countries and a number of developed economies.

That the Hong Kong job market is vigorous is borne out by the SAR government data. Hong Kong's unemployment rate has been around 3 percent for a long time, slowing to 2.8 percent in April this year. This unemployment rate essentially means almost all Hong Kong residents are employed, because a jobless rate of about 2 percent suggests labor supply cannot meet the demand in the job market.