After falling for two consecutive periods, Macao’s unemployment rate appears to have stabilised, according to the results of the latest Employment Survey. Both the general and local rates were down by about a percentage point from a year prior, according to figures from the Statistics and Census Service (known by its Portuguese initials DSEC).
The general unemployment rate, which covers non-resident workers and locals, came in at 1.9 percent for the March to May period, while the rate for locals was 2.5 percent. Both rates were unchanged from the February to April period and were on par with pre-pandemic levels recorded between December 2019 to February 2020.
The underemployment rate also remained unchanged at 1.4 percent.
[See more: Macao’s employee indicators are back to pre-pandemic levels, survey finds]
Employment in the financial and construction sectors decreased, DSEC said, while rising visitor numbers saw employment in the hospitality sector increase.
There were 7,200 people unemployed in the March to May period, a 200-person decrease. Most job seekers had previously worked in the gaming and junket sector, retail and construction. The number of entrants to the labour market seeking their first job made up 6.2 percent of the total unemployed population.
The total labour force living in Macao was 379,300 for the period, with a 67.4 percent participation rate. The number of employed residents came in at 283,600, an 800-person decline on the previous period.
