Unemployment rate drops to 3.6% from February-April

The local unemployment rate dropped 0.3% between February and April this year. The drop is from the previous four-month period from January to March this year, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) noted in a statistics release.

At the end of April, the general unemployment rate was 2.8%, with the unemployment rate of local residents at 3.6%.

The DSEC added that the underemployment rate also edged down by 0.1% to 2.1% in the same period.

Additional statistical information shows that the current labor force living in Macau is 371,200 people, with a labor force participation rate of 67.8%.

There are 360,700 people in employment, of which 282,200 are residents of Macau. The figures represent an increase of 1,400 people in the total workforce, of which 1,000 are local residents.

The sectors that contributed most to the creation of jobs over the four-month period were the gaming and junket activities and hotels category, and restaurants and similar activities.

The number of people registered as unemployed dropped in the exact amount of those who obtained jobs (1,000) from the previous period, to a current total of 10,500.

Of those unemployed and searching for a new job, most were previously engaged in the construction sector and gaming and junket activities, the DSEC data reveals.

The proportion of new labor market entrants seeking their first job also decreased, shrinking by 2.9% to reach 3.9% of the total unemployed.

In relation to underemployment, the reduction of about 100 from the previous period to 7,900 people was related mostly to those working in the construction sector and the transport and storage sector.