Unemployment rate rises to 5.5%
The city’s unemployment rate continues to rise as the city struggles through the fallout from the pandemic crisis that has caused a downturn in the local economy.
Data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicates that the general unemployment rate (4.3%) and the unemployment rate of local residents (5.5%) for June-August 2022 rose 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points from the previous period (May-July 2022) respectively, a record high since 2008.
The downturn, according to the government, was also due to fresh graduates entering the labor market.
The underemployment rate was 16.5%, up 3.1 percentage points.
A survey previously published by the Macao New Chinese Youth Association (MNCYA) shows that a total of 47% of interviewed residents were willing to accept non-permanent work (gig work). Flexible working hours, the ability to accumulate working experience and earn a higher income, were the main reasons cited.
Meanwhile, the labor force living in Macau totaled 379,200 and the labor force participation rate was 68.9%.
Total employment was 362,900 and the number of employed residents totaled 278,300, up 1,600 and 4,300 respectively from the previous period.
To combat the lack of employment, the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) will hold the “Youth Career Expo in 2022” on October 8 to 9 at The Venetian Macao in cooperation with different industry institutes to provide more job opportunities to local residents.
Analyzed by industry, employment in hotels, restaurants and similar activities and financial activities increased.
The number of the unemployed increased by 700 from the previous period to 16,300; the number of those seeking their first job went up by 600 to 2,000, with first job seekers as a proportion of the total unemployed rising by 3.3 percentage points to 12.0%. Among the unemployed searching for a new job, most of them were previously engaged in gaming and junket activities and in the construction sector.
The number of the underemployed increased by 12,000 from the previous period to 62,600, with the majority working in gaming and junket activities, hotels, restaurants and similar activities and retail trade.
