Hong Kong - Hong Kong's unemployment rate has jumped to 4.6 per cent, its highest level in nearly two and a half years, officials said Tuesday.

The jobless rate in the city of 7 million rose from 4.1 per cent in the October-to-December quarter to 4.6 per cent in the quarter from November to January. Figures are announced on a monthly basis.

The rise added another 16,000 people to the jobless total, which now stands at 157,000, the most since September 2006, government figures showed.

Hong Kong officially went into recession in late 2008 after it recorded two consecutive quarters of economic contraction for the first time since 2003 during the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.

A government spokesman said unemployment was likely to rise further in the coming months. "The employment market will remain weak as the turmoil's effect spreads across economic sectors," he said.

"A further weakening in labour demand after the Lunar New Year is also expected to translate into more job losses in the near term," he said. (dpa)