Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for December 2010 - February 2011 was 2.8%, up by 0.1 percentage point over the previous period (November 2010 - January 2011); the underemployment rate went down by 0.1 percentage point to 1.6%. Total labour force was 334,000 in December 2010 - February 2011 and the labour force participation rate stood at 71.6%, up by 0.2 percentage point from the previous period. The employed population increased by about 1,900 over the previous period to 325,000, in which employment of Hotels, Restaurants & Similar Activities and the Gaming Sector saw increase, while that of the Transport, Storage & Communications Sector registered a decrease. Number of the unemployed increased slightly by 400 from the previous period to 9,300, with 5.1% being fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 2.4 percentage points over the previous period. In comparison with December 2009 - February 2010, the labour force participation rate rose by 0.6 percentage point; meanwhile, the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate dropped by 0.1 and 0.2 percentage point respectively.
