ENG-2017 — Page 85

Chart 10

3

2

0

Per cent

3

The Economy

Total Labour Force and Total Employment (year-on-year rate of change)

Total labour force

Total employment

-2

T

Q1

Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1

2013

Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1

2014

2015 I

Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2016

2017

Growth in both the labour force and total employment picked up notably in 2017.

On the back of a tight labour market, overall wages and earnings witnessed solid increases in both nominal and real terms. Labour earnings in the private sector rose further by 3.7 per cent for 2017 as a whole, translating into a 2.3 per cent real growth after discounting inflation. More notable increases were seen in accommodation and food services, real estate, and professional and business services.

Separately, the General Household Survey, though not strictly comparable to surveys on the business establishment, suggested the average monthly employment earnings of full-time employees in the lowest three decile groups combined, excluding foreign domestic helpers, grew markedly by 6.1 per cent in nominal terms and 4.5 per cent in real terms in 2017. Apart from the tight manpower situation, the uprating of the statutory minimum wage in May provided further growth impetus to earnings for grass-roots workers.

For the overall income situation, median monthly household income, excluding foreign domestic helpers, picked up through the year and rose 5 per cent to $26,250 in 2017 from $25,000 in 2016.

Property Market

The residential property market was generally buoyant in 2017, except for a temporary moderation around the middle of the year following the introduction of the eighth round of macro-prudential measures for property mortgage loans by the HKMA in May. Improved global and local economic performance, the still-tight demand-supply balance of flats and sustained low local interest rates all contributed to the fervent market situation.

The total number of sale and purchase agreements for residential property received by the Land Registry rose 13 per cent to 61,600 in 2017, though still below the long-term average of 88,100 from 1997 to 2016 (chart 11). Trading was generally active other than for a couple of

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