The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.1% in Hong Kong last month from 2.9%, according to new data released by the government on Monday.
Why it matters: The standoff between pro-democracy protestors and police isn't letting up — capping a stretch of the bloodiest clashes between police and protesters since the protests began in June. Monday's data adds to a spate of worsening economic indicators in Hong Kong, which is in the midst of its first recession in 10 years.
The big picture:
- Hong Kong's jobless rate in the consumption and tourism sectors jumped to the highest level in two years.
- “Retailers, restaurants and hotels are cutting wages and hours or letting staff go just to survive,” Bloomberg reports.
The bottom line: "The violence and prospect of a harsher crackdown has battered Hong Kong's economy," the FT notes — adding to pain the economy was already feeling from the global economic slowdown and the U.S.-China trade war.
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