Macau, China, 29 Dec – Macau’s officially estimated unemployment rate fell 0.5 of a percentage point to 2.3 percent in the September-November employment survey period, the lowest rate since the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in December 1999, according to official statistics cited by The Macau Post Daily today.
The rate was down 0.1 of a percentage point over the previous – August to October – survey period.
Macau’s total labour force stood at 345,000 in the September-November period, when the labour force participation rate amounted to 72.5 percent. The labour force participation rate rose 1.3 percentage points year-on-year.
Total employment dropped by about 1,800 people over the previous period to 336,000.
While employment in the construction sector saw an increase, the gaming, entertainment and real-estate sectors all saw a decrease.
The number of unemployed decreased by about 300 from the previous survey period to 8,100, with 15.3 percent being fresh labour force entrants looking for their first job, down 1.1 percentage points over the previous period.
The number of imported workers stood at 91,241 at the end of October, accounting for 26.5 percent of Macau ’s total workforce.(MacauNews/Politics)
