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The Economy
The labour force and total employment declined 2.0 per cent and 4.9 per cent respectively in 2020, enlarged from the corresponding decline of 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent in 2019 (chart 9). Data collected from private-sector establishments showed that labour demand slackened further in 2020. Having fallen 0.9 per cent in 2019, private-sector employment fell further by 4.5 per cent in 2020. Most sectors saw declines in private-sector employment, notably in accommodation and food services, import/export trade and wholesale, arts, entertainment and recreation, and retail. The number of private-sector vacancies plunged 42.6 per cent to 38,840 in 2020. Reflecting a slackened labour market, the ratio of job vacancies per 100 job-seekers dived from 58 in 2019 to 17 in 2020.
Chart 9
Total Labour Force and Total Employment (year-on-year rate of change)
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3
2
-1
Per cent
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
Q1
I
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2016
Total labour force
Total employment
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2017
2018
I
2019
I 2020
The total labour force and total employment both showed record annual declines in 2020.
Overall wages and labour earnings continued to rise in nominal terms in 2020, but the pace of increase decelerated. Labour earnings, as measured by the index of payroll per person engaged for all selected industry sections, saw its year-on-year increase decelerate from 3.2 per cent in the first quarter to 1.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, the slowest in over a decade. For 2020 as a whole, labour earnings rose 2.4 per cent, slower than the gain of 3.4 per cent in the preceding
year.
Separately, median monthly household income (excluding foreign domestic helpers) declined sharply by 5.6 per cent from $28,500 in 2019 to $26,900 in 2020, partly reflecting the decreased number of working members in households amid the notable fall in total employment.
Property Market
The residential property market was broadly steady in 2020, notwithstanding some moderate fluctuations in individual months. While the COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on the overall economy and market sentiment was swayed by the local epidemic situation from time to time,
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