Unemployment growing slowly by global standards

The general unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percentage points in the latest period surveyed by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), in what is a minor rise by world standards.
According to the bureau’s data released yesterday, unemployment in Macau rose to 2.5% in the three-month period from April to June 2020, about 0.1 percentage points higher than in the previous period from March-May 2020.
At the same time, the unemployment rate of local residents also rose by 0.1 percentage points to 3.5% in the three-month period ending in June.
The general unemployment rate and the resident unemployment rate stood 0.4 and 0.6 percentage points higher at the end of June than at the end of the first quarter.
The number of the unemployed was 10,100 at the end of June, up 400 from the end of May.
Among the unemployed population searching for a new job, the number of those previously working in gaming and restaurants sectors “showed relatively large growth,” according to DSEC.
Meanwhile, the proportion of new labor market entrants seeking their first job increased by 0.4 percentage points to 5.5% of the total unemployed.
The number of the underemployed grew by 3,300 to 13,900, according to the data release, with the majority working in the gaming, transport, construction, retail and hotel sectors.
The minor rise in unemployment comes as many developed economies around the world are bracing for double-digit unemployment rates. The proportion of those unemployed in the U.S. was 11.1% in June, after retreating from 13.3% a month earlier. DB