The general unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to 1.9 percent in the first three months of 2025, according to the latest figures from the Statistics and Census Service (known by its Portuguese acronym DSEC). The rate for locals – that is, excluding migrant workers – was 2.5 percent, also a 0.2 percent rise.
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, the total number of employed people in Macao (371,800) and the number of employed locals (280,200) decreased by 6,500 and 5,800 respectively.
While the restaurant and retail sectors were the primary source of new jobseekers in the December 2024 to February 2025 period, DSEC said that the number of residents employed in retail rose by 2,200 in the first quarter, compared with the fourth quarter of last year. This is in spite of the sector’s well publicised struggles.
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Meanwhile, employed residents in the gaming and construction sectors fell by 2,200 and 2,000 respectively, over the same period.
A spate of double pay and bonuses during the first three months of the year saw median monthly earnings rise, DSEC said. The employed in general saw theirs go up by 800 patacas, to 18,800 patacas. Locals’ median monthly earnings increased by 1,000 patacas to come in at 21,500 in the first quarter.
When compared to the previous period (December 2024 to February 2025), the general and local unemployment rates for this January to March rose by 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points respectively, as a relatively large number of people looked for jobs after the holidays, DSEC said.
