Hong Kong - Nearly one in five young people in Hong Kong is out of work as the city's jobless rate is driven higher by the economic crisis, according to official figures released Tuesday.

Eighteen per cent of the working population aged 15 to 19 were unemployed in the first quarter of 2009 compared to just 10.8 per cent in the same period in 2008, government statistics showed.

The jobs shortage for young people in the city of 7 million is expected to worsen considerably in the coming months as school- and university leavers flood onto the employment market in the summer.

Hong Kong's general unemployment rate last week rose 0.5 per cent to 5 per cent of the working population, its highest level for nearly three years.

Unemployment in Hong Kong hit an all-time high of 8.7 per cent in the aftermath of the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis but had fallen to under 4 per cent in the second half of 2008. (dpa)