Number of workers in wholesale, retail trade grows 3.6%

The number of people working in the wholesale and retail trade at the end of the second quarter of 2019 rose 3.6% year-on-year, according to the latest Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages released yesterday by the Statistics and Census Service.

The trade had a total of 63,502 people engaged, with 41,106 working on the retail side. In June 2019, the average earnings (excluding bonuses) of full-time employees rose by 4.3% year-on-year to MOP13,940.

Meanwhile, the number of people engaged in transport, storage and communications soared 25% year-on-year to over 14,060 persons, on account of the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge last year and the Light Rapid Transit coming into operation soon. Average earnings of full-time employees in this sector rose by 6.4% year-on-year to MOP22,620 in June.

Security activities had 12,337 persons engaged, up by 7.2% year-on-year. The average earnings of full-time employees in June rose by 1.8% year-on-year to MOP13,040.

Public sewage and refuse disposal activities had 904 persons engaged, up by 4.9% year-on-year. The average earnings of full-time employees in June increased by 1.8% year-on-year to MOP18,760.

At the end of the second quarter of 2019, job vacancies in the retail trade (3,038) and in security activities (1,256) went up by 594 and 126 respectively year-on-year, while those in the wholesale trade (849) fell by 290. DB