In this Feb 26, 2020 photo, HK Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po arrives to deliver the annual budget at the legislative council in Hong Kong. - AFP HONG KONG, Jan. 17 (Xinhua): Paul Chan, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said here on Sunday that the jobless rate in Hong Kong will climb further as businesses and workers are still struggling amid the Covid-19 epidemic. Chan said in an online article that the unemployment rate during the Oct.-Dec. period will continue to spike and even surpass the 16-year high, a level reached recently. Although the economy stopped shrinking in the third quarter last year and will likely return to the positive territory in 2021, the current situation has remained grim, Chan said, citing nearly 8,700 bankruptcies last year, the Purchasing Managers' Index back to contraction, and the pessimism in small and medium-sized enterprises.