The Economy 55
job seekers went up from 15 in March to 20 in December. The corresponding ratio for lower-skilled jobs also moved up from 12 to 20, while that for higher-skilled jobs held steady at 31.
Improvement in job vacancies, whilst occurring extensively in most economic sectors, was most visible in accommodation services, followed by transportation, storage, postal and courier services, retail, and import and export and wholesale trades.
With labour market conditions gradually turning better in the second half of 2009, labour earnings in the private sector witnessed a moderate rise of 0.5 per cent in money terms and showed virtually no change in real terms in 2009 over a year earlier (Chart 13). In particular, labour earnings in professional and business activities recorded an increase of 2.7 per cent, while those in real estate activities were up by 2.5 per cent in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, labour earnings in such sectors as retail, and the import/export and wholesale trades stayed soft, registering decreases of 1.3 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.
Chart 13
Labour Earnings
(a) Year-on-year rate of change in money terms
(b) Year-on-year rate of change
in real terms
Per cent
15
10
Per cent
15
10
5
5
All industry section
0
O
All industry section
-5
-5
Financial and insurance activities
-10
-10-
Financial and insurance activities
-15
-15-
Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
Labour earnings reverted to a modest year-on-year increase in nominal terms and were flat in real terms during the fourth quarter of 2009.
The Property Market
Following the sharp correction in the second half of 2008 amid the severe shocks of the global financial crisis, the residential property market staged a strong rebound in 2009. The gradual improvement of the economy through the year lent support to market demand, while strong inflow of funds and the consequential low interest rates helped create an accommodative environment. As a result, flat prices showed an uninterrupted increase through the year, culminating in a 29 per cent increase in December 2009 over a year earlier. As to the leasing market, flat rentals started to rebound in the second quarter of 2009, albeit at a much more gradual
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