Average earnings in wholesale and retail trade rise 5.3 percent

Average earnings of full-time employees in the wholesale and retail trade industries rose 5.3 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2017 to MOP13,480, according to the latest Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages, released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). There were 57,641 persons engaged in the sector, down by 0.4 percent year-on-year, with 37,050 working in the retail trade sector.

Meanwhile, transport, storage and communications had 11,360 people engaged in the sector, up by 1.6 percent year- on-year. The average earnings of full-time employees increased 2.9 percent year-on-year to MOP21,470, as of December last year.

The security sector had 10,862 persons engaged, up by 2.4 percent year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees in the sector rose by 1.7 percent year- on-year to MOP13,250.

The public sewage and refuse disposal sector had 862 persons engaged, similar to the number in the fourth quarter of 2016. Their average earnings in December increased by 2.3 percent year-on-year to MOP18,130.

The Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages covers the sectors of wholesale and retail trade, transport, storage and communications, security, and public sewage and refuse disposal.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2017, job vacancies in the retail sector increased by 319 year-on-year, while those in the wholesale sector as well as the transport, storage and communications sector fell by 441 and 84 respectively.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, the vacancy rate (8.5 percent) in the retail sector rose by 0.7 percentage points year-on- year, while the turnover rate (5.4 percent) fell by 0.8 percentage points, suggesting an increase in demand for human resources in this sector, according to DSEC.

In addition, the vacancy rate (5.8 percent) in the transport, storage and communications sector dropped by 0.8 percentage points, while the recruitment rate (4.7 percent) and turnover rate (3.9 percent) rose by 0.9 and 0.4 percentage points respectively year- on-year.

In terms of recruitment prerequisites, most vacancies in the public sewage and refuse disposal sector (89.1 percent), the transport, storage and communications sector (50.5 percent) and wholesale and retail trade (45.4 percent) required only junior secondary education or lower.

As for language skills, 73.6 percent and 53.6 percent of the vacancies in the retail trade sector required knowledge of Mandarin and English respectively; the corresponding proportions in the security sector were 68.2 percent and 75.8 percent respectively.