The fourth quarter of 2023 saw 3,600 fewer people working in Macao’s gaming and junket sector when compared to the third quarter of that year, according to employment figures from the Statistics and Census Service (also referred to by its Portuguese acronym DSEC).
The data, published last Friday, shows that the number of people working in the gaming industry during the fourth quarter totalled 67,600, a drop of 5.2 percent in comparison to the third quarter’s total of 71,000 employees.
The DSEC’s data also shows that the vast majority of unemployed workers that were seeking new jobs were previously engaged in “gaming and junket activities” or other hospitality work.
Meanwhile, the city’s unemployment rate in the last quarter of 2023 totalled 2.3 percent, while the numbers of unemployed and underemployed local residents were 2.9 percent and 1.4 percent respectively. These numbers represent changes of fractions of a percentage point in comparison to the third quarter.
[See more: Macao’s unemployment rate is holding steady]
Overall, the total number of people employed in the SAR came to 379,700, with local residents accounting for 286,800 of the total.
Compared to the third quarter, the general employment figure in the fourth quarter was higher by 1,800. However, the number of employed residents saw a decrease of 700 quarter-on-quarter.
For the entire year of 2023, the general unemployment level and unemployment levels for residents amounted to 2.7 percent and 3.4 percent, a respective drop of 1 percent and 1.4 percent year-on-year.
Average general wages and local resident wages both increased by 2,500 patacas and 1,000 patacas compared to the previous year, totalling 17,500 patacas and 20,000 patacas respectively, the DSEC said.
