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PERFORMANCE OF THE ECONOMY
(a) General Situaton
Led by a strong
since March,
economy.
recovery in domestic exports
March, 1986 saw a marked upturn in
in the Hong Kong
Domestic exports grew by about 13% in real
terms, in the first nine months of 1986, over the same
period last year, in contrast with a decline of 5% in 1985
as a whole. This recovery was attributable partly to
improved demand for Hong Kong's products in many of its
major overseas markets, and partly to improved external
competitiveness caused by the depreciation of the Hong
Kong dollar against most major currencies, in line with
the depreciation of the US dollar under the linked
exchange rate system. For the first nine months of 1986
re-exports grew by about 5% in real terms.
The strong recovery in domestic exports has
helped to maintain employment at a high level and to boost
labour incomes.
In the third quarter of 1986, the
seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 2.8% and the
underemployment rate was 1.3%. Employment continued
grow particularly in the
services sectors and in
to
financial and other business
the distributive trades.
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