HONG KONG -- Nineteen-year-old Dick Yiu has dreamt all his life about becoming an interior designer.

But since leaving design school a year ago, he's been a cleaner, security guard and kitchen hand - work that young people never had to consider when jobs were plentiful in Hong Kong a few years ago.

"It's really, really difficult finding work I want and I can only seep into spaces that nobody wants," the young man said.

Yiu is among tens of thousands of young people in Hong Kong who are finding themselves increasingly marginalized, with little hope for the future. The once booming territory is struggling to escape its second recession in four years, unemployment is at a record high and jobs are scarce.

"Even if my family had the money to send me abroad, I don't think I will go because there is no guarantee I can get a job afterwards. The future is too uncertain," Yiu said.

Hong Kong said recently That its unemployment rate edged up to a new record high of 7.7 percent in the three months to June, Reuters reported.

Hardly a week goes by without a store or company announcing layoffs or shutting their doors, and economists say the jobless figure is set to grow even higher in coming months as fresh graduates and teenagers leaving school start looking for work.

?????Grave Social Problems????? Sixteen-year-old Trisie Cheung, who is waiting for her high-school exam results, said she worries about what will happen to her if she does not win a place in pre-university courses.

Like many young people in Hong Kong, Cheung faces an additional disadvantage in the working world because she has a poor grasp of the English language.

Many employers in the predominantly Cantonese speaking territory require even shop assistants to have some level of proficiency in the International Language of Commerce.

Without higher qualifications, they have to fight for what's left, usually low-level jobs with no opportunity for advancement or even the most basic benefits such as paid leave.

But even those jobs now pay half of what they used to in the boom days, starting from as little as HK$3,000 (US$385) a month.

"Everyone comes to terms with failure, but there are people who commit suicide before they sort things out," Cheung said.

Suicide rates have shot up in recent years, a trend many social workers attribute to the economic downturn, particularly money and unemployment problems.

University graduates are facing a tough time, too.

It is common to find people armed with several master's degrees who have been unable to find work for more than a year.

Community workers say they are concerned about the social impact of the increasing number of idle young people in the territory.

"We are very worried they will get into illicit activities, such as peddling drugs, selling pirated VCDs for quick money, and be controlled by triads," said Gary Tang, supervisor of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups.

The government released a TV commercial over the weekend showing police nabbing a young girl for selling pirate CDs, a campaign aimed at reminding young people not to break the law.

Leader Tung Chee-hwa has made job creation, especially for younger people, his top priority. But while thousands of new jobs are in the pipeline due to the speeding up of infrastructure projects, few are available now.

Top officials have said there was nothing much the government can do and they have advised residents to create their own businesses or go to mainland China in search for jobs.

"You can go out and try. If you can't find a job, why not try new things with a few friends, some new service? Because you are young, you can afford to lose," said Henry Tang, secretary for commerce, industry and technology.