Macao's general unemployment rate edged up to 2.1 pct in Q1

APD NEWS

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Macao's general unemployment rate for the first quarter increased by 0.2 percentage points to 2.1 percent from the previous period from December 2019 to February 2020, the special administrative region's statistic service said here on Sunday.

The latest report issued from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate of local residents was 2.9 percent for the first quarter, up by 0.3 percentage points.

Meanwhile, the underemployment rate held steady from the previous period at 0.8 percent.

The total labour force was 405,800 and the labour force participation rate was 70.5 percent. The total employment rose by 6,500 from the previous period to 397,400, due to an increased number of non-resident workers living in Macao, as some of those initially living outside Macao moved back before the latest entry restrictions took effect on Feb. 20.

The number of employed residents totaled 280,200, down by 3,200, the DSEC report added.

The number of the unemployed increased by 1,000 from the previous period to 8,500. Meanwhile, the proportion of new labour market entrants seeking their first job decreased by 2.4 percentage points to 8.1 percent of the total unemployed.

The number of the underemployed edged up by 200 to 3,200, with the majority working in the construction, transport and storage sectors.

In the first quarter of 2020, the general unemployment rate and the unemployment rate of local residents grew by 0.4 and 0.6 percentage points respectively from the previous quarter.

The total employment in the first quarter increased by 7,600 quarter-to-quarter whereas the number of employed residents dropped by 1,400.

The median monthly employment earnings of the employed in the first quarter dropped by 1,000 patacas (about 125 U.S. dollars) quarter-to-quarter to 16,000 patacas (about 2,004 dollars).

The median earnings of the employed residents remained unchanged from the previous quarter at 20,000 patacas (about 2,505 dollars).