Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for December 2009 - February 2010 was 2.9%, down by 0.1 percentage point over the previous period (November 2009 - January 2010); the underemployment rate was 1.8%, up by 0.1 percentage point. Total labour force was 322,000 in December 2009 - February 2010 and the labour force participation rate stood at 71.0%, with the employed population increasing by 1,300 over the previous period to 313,000. Analyzed by industry, employment of the Retail Trade increased from the previous period, while that of the Restaurants & Similar Activities registered a decrease. In December 2009 - February 2010, number of the unemployed decreased by about 300 from the previous period to 9,200, with 8.6% being fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 1.4 percentage points. In comparison with December 2008 - February 2009, the labour force participation rate and the unemployment rate dropped by 1.4 and 0.7 percentage point respectively; meanwhile, the underemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point.
