Hong Kong's unemployment rises as protests heat up

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.

Go deeper:

• Hong Kong's mask ban is unconstitutional, court rules
• Protests paralyze Hong Kong: What you need to know
• Chinese army troops clear streets that protestors clogged