MACAO, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Macao's labor market kept stable in June and August as its general unemployment rate for that period stood at 2.0 percent, the same level with May and July, the special administrative region's statistics department said on Thursday.
Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the general unemployment rate for June and August 2017 held stable as in the previous period (May and July 2017), at 2.0 percent; the unemployment rate of local residents was 2.7 percent, down by 0.1 percentage point. Meanwhile, the underemployment rate was 0.5 percent, up by 0.1 percentage point.
Total labor force was 392,100 and the labor force participation rate stood at 71.5 percent. Total employment was 384,200 and employed residents totaled 283,800, up by 100 and 1,200 respectively from the previous period. Analysed by industry, employment in gaming and junket activities registered an increase, while that in hotels, restaurants and similar activities, wholesale and retail trade, construction showed decreases.
Number of the unemployed was 7,900, down by 100 from the previous period. Fresh labor force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 17.2 percent of the total unemployed, up by 2.0 percentage points.
In comparison with June and August 2016, the labor force participation rate dropped by 1.2 percentage points, while both the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point.
