Statistics | Unemployment rate remains stable

The unemployment rate for the May-July period stood at 1.8 percent, according to data released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
The number of unemployed people was 7,400, up by 200 from the April-June period. The number of new labor entrants searching for their first job increased by 4.9 percentage points, forming 14.4 percent of the unemployed population.
The total number of people in the labor force reached 405,200 and participation rate stood at 73.7 percent, while overall employment decreased slightly by 400 from April-June to 397,900.
Employment in construction recorded a reduction while education, as well as wholesale and retail trade, saw an increase.
The findings of DSEC’s Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the second quarter of 2015 were also released on Friday.  A total of 53,743 people worked in the wholesale and retail trade sector, representing an increase of 10.3 percent year-on-year. Average earnings for this sector rose 4.4 percent year-on-year to MOP12,320.
10,177 people work in transport, storage and communications, up by 7.3 percent year-on-
year. Average earnings stood at MOP19,000, up by 3.6 percent year-on-year.
Security Activities had engaged 10,078 employees, up by 52.9 percent year-on-year. The average earnings of full-time employees in June rose by 21.5 percent year-on-year to MOP11,870.
At the end of the second quarter of the year, Wholesale and Retail Trade had 5,063 vacancies (66.3 percent in Retail Trade), down by 699 year-on-year. Vacancies in Transport, Storage & Communications (1,068) and Security Activities (990) rose by 284 and 44 respectively year-on-year.