The general unemployment rate in Macao for the period between May and July continued to remain at a relatively low level, with official data indicating that it stood at only 1.7 percent. The level is unchanged from the previous period spanning from April to June, according to the Statistics and Census Service (known by its Portuguese initials DSEC).
The unemployment figure for local residents similarly saw no change against the previous period, standing at 2.3 percent.
General underemployment, meanwhile, fell to 1.3 percent, a decrease of 0.2 percentage in comparison to the last period.
The number of people in the labour force and the employed population also remained consistent with the previous period, totalling 383,100 and 376,400 individuals respectively. However, there was a slight decline of 700 in the number of locals with jobs, with the figure falling to 286,300.
[See more: Unemployment in the second quarter has returned to pre-pandemic levels]
The unemployed population, on the other hand, totalled 6,700, a growth of 100. The bureau explained that this increase was driven by “fresh graduates entering the labour market.”
With respect to the general labour force participation rate, it stood at 67.8 percent for the current period, a growth of 0.2 percent year-on-year. The figure for local residents, meanwhile, totalled 62.4 percent, representing a drop of 0.4 percent in comparison to the same period last year.
In terms of the main sectors, gaming saw its employment numbers grow to 71,100, a rise of 1.1 percent. Construction also witnessed a jump of 1.5 percent, with employment numbers reaching 26,700. The wholesale and retail trade, however, experienced a drop of almost 5 percent, with the number of employees decreasing to 44,300.
Since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in early 2023, Macao’s unemployment rate has been gradually falling. During the pandemic’s height between June and August 2022, the city recorded a general unemployment rate of 4.3 percent and a local unemployment rate of 5.5 percent.
