Hong Kong's jobless rate down

Hong Kong's unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent between September and November, official data showed Thursday, the third consecutive decline since the start of the global financial crisis. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate dipped from 5.2 percent in the July to September period, and was in line with the median 5.1 percent forecast of ten economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. The number of jobless declined by 9 ,400 to 181 , 000 , while the southern Chinese city's overall workforce fell from 3 ,678 ,700 to 3 ,678 ,600 in the three months ending November, according to the Census and Statistics Department. The decline was largely driven by job creation in the construction sector, where the unemployment rate has dropped for seven consecutive months to 7.6 percent, a government statement said.