The second quarter of 2025 saw no change in Macao’s general and local unemployment rates, when compared with the first three months of the year. According to figures from the Statistics and Census Service (known by its Portuguese initials DSEC), these rates remained at 1.9 percent and 2.5 percent respectively.
The general rate refers to the total workforce, including migrant workers. The local rate excludes migrant workers.
Increases of 900 and 1,400 respectively were seen in the overall number of employed people (372,700) and the number of employed locals (281,600).
Employed locals in the transport and storage sector (17,300) and the construction sector (15,500) rose by 1,600 and 1,500 respectively, while those in hotels, restaurants and similar activities (27,200) fell by 1,000 – illustrative of the latter sector’s ongoing struggles.
Median monthly employment earnings decreased by 1,000 patacas, to 17,800 patacas for the overall workforce in the second quarter, and by 1,500 patacas to 20,000 patacas for employed locals.
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“This was due to a relatively high comparison base resulting from the disbursement of double pay and bonuses in some industries in the first quarter,” DSEC noted in a statement.
“When excluding double pay and bonuses, median monthly employment earnings of full-time resident employees (working 35 hours or more per week) held steady quarter-on-quarter, at 21,000 patacas.”
When comparing the previous rolling three month period (March to May) to the April to June quarter, unemployment rates remained unchanged.
Underemployment of local residents, however, fell by 0.1 percent, while total employment and the number of employed residents dropped by 300 and 600 respectively from the previous period.
The proportion of new labour market entrants seeking their first job increased by 2.6 percentage points compared with the previous rolling three month period, making up 11 percent of unemployed residents.
