According to the results of the Employment Survey released by the Statistics and Census Service, the unemployment rate for April-June 2008 was 2.8%, down by 0.1 percentage point over the previous period (March-May 2008) and by 0.2 percentage point year-on-year. The underemployment rate remained unchanged from the previous period, at 1.6%, but up by 0.6 percentage point year-on-year. Total labour force was 330,000 in April-June 2008; the labour force participation rate stayed at 70.5%, same as that in March-May 2008, but up by 1.8 percentage points year-on-year. The employed population rose by 1,700 over the previous period to 321,000, with increases in the number of persons working in Wholesale & Retail Trade and Construction, but slight decrease in Hotels, Restaurants & Similar Activities. The unemployed population was 9,100, a decrease of 500 from the previous period, with 600 (6.2% of the total) searching for their first job, up by 2.3 percentage points over the previous period. In addition, the unemployment rate of local residents (excluding non-resident workers) stood at 3.4% for April-June of 2008, and the respective labour force participation rate was 64.1%.
