2010.08.2704:45:00UTC+00Macau Jobless Rate At 2.9% In May-July Period

Macau unemployment rate remained broadly unchanged during the three-month ending July compared to the preceding three months, official data showed Friday.

The unemployment rate for the May to July period was 2.9%, slightly up from the 2.8% in the April to June period, the Statistics and Census Service, or DSEC, said. The jobless rate was almost steady since the quarter-ending January, when the rate was 3%.

During the same period last year, the unemployment rate was 3.7%. The underemployment rate dropped for the second consecutive quarter during May to July, falling to 1.8% from 1.9% in the previous period. Total labor force was 326,000.

Labor force participation rate was 71.5%, with the employed population decreasing by about 200 over the previous period to 317,000. Analyzing by industry, employment in the manufacturing and retail sectors recorded decreases during the period, while employment in construction registered an increase. At the same time, the number of the unemployed increased by about 300 from the previous three-month period to 9,600. The proportion of fresh labor force entrants rose by 3.7 percentage points over the previous period to 11.2% with more graduates entering the labor market. During the same period last year, the labor force participation rate was 72.8% and the underemployment rate was 1.9%.

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