More jobs are on offer and more people are taking new jobs, thanks to the economic upswing, a survey has found.

The turnover rate for Hong Kong employees last year was 12 percent, with the average job vacancy rate being 2.6 percent, both highest since 2003.

The growth coincided with the economic recovery in recent years, especially in 2005 when the territory's GDP rose by 7.3 percent and the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low of 5.3 percent.

The Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIRM) conducted surveys in every quarter of 2005 to get an in-depth idea about the city's economic and social health, with 94,000 employees of 107 companies taking part in the fourth quarter survey.

HKIRM President Lai Kam-tong said: "This shows the city's economic recovery has continued to boost the growth of different sectors, with more companies expanding their business... The rates have shown an obvious increase, which means more jobs are available now and more people are changing jobs."

The retail industry recorded the highest turnover rate, with 33 percent employees changing jobs, followed by the telecom industry (21.4 percent) and the wholesale, import/export and trading sector (21.1 percent).

"The Individual Travel Scheme (ITS) and Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) with the mainland have helped develop those industries, especially retail," Lai said.

Although a high employee turnover rate may raise a company's operation costs, Lai said that some industries could be better off with new blood and ideas.

The retail sector also saw the highest vacancy rate of 5.3 percent last year, with financial and banking services being second (4.7 percent).

On the contrary, industries that seemed to have less vitality were those of utilities such as electricity, gas and transport-related services.

Yesterday, the government also released the latest retail figures, which show that sales in January 2006 increased by 11.6 percent year-on-year. Tourists, especially those from the mainland, during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, are believed to have contributed in a large measure to the sharp rise.

(China Daily March 3, 2006)