According to the results of the Employment Survey released by the Statistics and Census Service, the unemployment rate for September-November 2007 dropped further to 2.9%, lower than the three percent level for the first time since November 1997-January 1998 (2.8%). The unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point over the previous period (August-October 2007) and by 0.7 percentage point over the same period of 2006. The underemployment rate was held stable at 1.2% as the previous period, but up by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year. Total labour force was estimated at 320,000, with the labour force participation rate remained unchanged at 70.3% as the previous period, but increased by 3.6 percentage points year-on-year. The employed population rose by 2,100 over the previous period to 311,000. By industry, the number of the employed in the Construction sector; Recreational, cultural, gaming & other services; and Hotels, restaurants & similar activities showed increases, while that in the Transport, storage & communications sector decreased. The unemployed population was estimated at 9,300, a decrease of 300 compared with the previous period. Among the unemployed, about 1,500 were searching for their first job, down by 3.7 percentage points over the preceding period to take up 15.6% of the total unemployed.
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