Average earnings up from low base in 2020

In June 2021, the average earnings (excluding bonuses) of full-time employees engaged in wholesale and retail trade were MOP14,490, up by 7.7% compared to December 2020 and 17.9% year-on-year.
Average earnings in June this year generally increased due to the low base of comparison, given that the average earnings of full-time employees in June last year were dragged down by the large number of employees in multiple industries who were on unpaid leave.
At the end of the second quarter of 2021, the number of employees decreased by 2.2% year-on-year to 63,238. Among them, 39,375 were working in retail trade, which was down by 2.0%, according to data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
The transport, storage and communications sector had 13,746 persons engaged, an increase of 3.6% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees rose by 5.1% year-on-year to MOP21,050 in June.
Security activities had 13,282 persons engaged, down by 1.8% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees in June went up by 3.8% year-on-year to MOP12,890.
Public sewage and refuse disposal activities had 938 persons engaged, an increase of 1.3% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees in June grew by 3.2% year-on-year to MOP19,040.
This summer, the city saw around 4,300 fresh graduates entering the job market, according to the survey conducted by the General Association of Chinese Students of Macau (AECM).
A research study conducted by the group suggests that the average monthly salary employers can offer a fresh graduate is around MOP10,000, due to the difficult global employment market.
According to the forecast by the Macau Human Resources Association, the local job market is unlikely to stabilize until 2023.
However, there was an increase in job vacancies in different sectors.
Job vacancies in retail trade (1,765), security activities (1,302) and the transport, storage and communications sector (1,085) increased by 252, 272 and 407 respectively year-on-year.
In terms of recruitment prerequisites, most of the vacancies in security activities (96.9%) and in wholesale and retail trade (46.1%) required only junior secondary education levels or lower, while 17.7% of the vacancies in the transport, storage and communications sector required tertiary education.
During the May to July period, the labor force living in Macau totaled 383,900, with a labor force participation rate of 67.9%, 2.6% less than in the previous quarter.
In relation to total employment numbers, 372,900 workers were recorded, with residents accounting for 275,000.