The value of Hong Kong’s total goods exports increased to $389 billion in April, up 1.1% compared with the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department announced today. The value of imports of goods rose 2.1% to $425.6 billion for the same period. A trade deficit of $36.6 billion, or 8.6% of the value of imports, was recorded for the month. Comparing the three-month period ending April with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of total exports decreased 12% while that of imports fell 11.7%. The Government said epidemic-induced transportation disruptions, though easing somewhat in the latter part of the month, continued to constrain export performance. It pointed out that exports to the Mainland fell while those to the US and the European Union posted visible growth. Looking ahead, the global economic outlook has worsened amid rampant inflation in some major economies and monetary policy tightening by respective cen
The overall Comprehensive Social Security Assistance caseload dropped to 216,442 in January, down 0.2% from last December, the Social Welfare Department announced today.
The total number of recipients stood at 305,358.
Low-earnings cases remained steady at 2,216. Single parent cases and old age cases each dropped 0.4% to 23,678 and 123,667 respectively.
Unemployment cases decreased 0.2% to 18,453 compared with last month, although it represents an increase of about 46.6% compared with January 2020 when Hong Kong just started to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The average number of applications for unemployment cases in November 2021 to January 2022 was 479 per month, representing a slight increase of 2.1% from the October to December 2021 figure.
Ill-health cases increased 0.3% to 26,980, while the number of permanent disability cases was down 0.1%, recording 17,499 cases.
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