Results of the 1st Quarter 2007 Employment Survey

The Statistics and Census Service released the results of the Employment Survey for the first quarter of 2007. Principal indicators such as the labour force participation rate, unemployment rate and underemployment rate have been published in the brief report in April. In the first quarter of 2007, total labour force was estimated at 293,000, of which 284,000 were employed and 9,300 unemployed, representing an increase of 6,700 workers in the employed population and a decrease of 900 in the unemployed population over the previous quarter. Regarding the employed population, 54.0% were male. Analyzed by industry, the majority of the employed population were engaging in Recreational, cultural, gaming & other services (21.6%), Wholesale & retail trade (13.4%), Construction (12.7%), as well as Hotels, restaurants & similar activities (10.7%). By occupation, 25.8% of the employed population were Clerks (including casino dealers, floorpersons, betting service operators, etc.); 20.4% were Service & sales workers and 17.6% were Unskilled workers. The overall median monthly employment earnings was MOP7,588. For Recreational, cultural, gaming & other services that engaged the majority of the employed population, the median earnings amounted to MOP10,901. The median actual hours worked per week was 47.1 hours. Within the unemployed, 90.8% were searching for a new job, while 9.2% had never worked and were searching for their first job. With regard to the educational attainment, 10.1% had lower than primary education; 29.2% had primary education; 34.3% had junior secondary education; 19.8% had senior secondary education and 6.6% had tertiary education. For the unemployed that were searching for a new job: Analyzed by the previous industry engaged, the majority had worked in Construction (22.4%), Wholesale & retail trade (17.4%), Manufacturing (16.4%), as well as Hotels, restaurants & similar activities (15.5%). In terms of the previous occupation, 28.6% were Service & sales workers, whereas Unskilled workers and Craftsmen & similar workers accounted for 22.3% and 16.7% respectively.