Unemployment rate slightly up for March-May

Macau’s unemployment rate for March-May 2015 went up to 1.8 percent, a slight increase of 0.1 percentage point from February-April 2015, according to the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). Meanwhile, the underemployment rate remained stable at 0.3 percent. The total labor force was recorded as 405,700 and the labor force participation rate stood at 74 percent. Total employment decreased by 500 to 398,500 from February-April 2015. Analyzed by industry, employment in real estate and business activities saw a decrease. In the same period, the number of unemployed rose by 500 to 7,200, amongst which, fresh labor force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 5.9 percent, up by 0.2 percentage points. In comparison with March-May 2014, the labor force participation rate and the unemployment rate increased by 0.7 and 0.1 percentage points respectively, while the underemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point.