Importing workers has contributed very little to Hong Kong’s 30-month-high jobless rate, the city’s labour chief has said, highlighting new measures introduced to better protect residents from being replaced by cheaper overseas staff.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Wednesday that the 3.5 per cent unemployment rate for the March to May period had little to do with the scheme to import workers. The rate was the highest since the October to December period in 2022.

“The number of foreign workers who came to Hong Kong through the scheme is about 55,000, which is less than 1 per cent of our workforce,” he told a radio programme.

“So they have had little impact on the movement of our overall labour market.”

He attributed the jobless figures to Hong Kong’s economy undergoing a transition and uncertainty due to geopolitical tensions, but said that he remained optimistic about the city’s projected economic growth of 2 to 3 per cent for the year.

On Tuesday, the Labour Department introduced new measures to “safeguard employment priority” for local workers, amid increasing complaints from residents that they were being replaced by cheaper foreign labour.