Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for May-July 2011 held stable at 2.7%, same as the previous period (April-June 2011); the underemployment rate was 1.1%, down by 0.1 percentage point. Total labour force was 340,000 in May-July 2011 and the labour force participation rate stood at 71.8%, with the employed population increasing by about 2,200 over the previous period to 331,000. Analyzed by industry, employment of the Hotel Sector and Retail Trade saw increase, while that of Real Estate & Business Activities registered decrease. Number of the unemployed was similar as the previous period, at 9,000. Fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job stood at 12.3%, up by 4.9 percentage points from the previous period attributable to the increase of graduates entering the labour market. In comparison with May-July 2010, the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate dropped by 0.2 and 0.7 percentage point respectively; meanwhile, the labour force participation rate rose by 0.3 percentage point.
