Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate (1.7%) and the underemployment rate (0.4%) for January-March 2014 held stable as December 2013-February 2014. Total labour force was 384,200 and the labour force participation rate stood at 73.3%. Total employment reached 377,900, an increase of 1,900 from December 2013-February 2014. Number of the unemployed was about 6,400, similar to December 2013-February 2014; fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 7.6% of the total unemployed, down by 2.8 percentage points. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2013, the general unemployment rate (1.7%) and the unemployment rate of local residents (2.3%) declined by 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points respectively. Total labour force registered an increase of 7,000; total employment rose by 7,500, with those aged 25-34 increasing by 5,100. Analysed by industry, employment in the Construction Sector and Wholesale & Retail Trade increased by 3,400 and 2,400 respectively. Median monthly employment earnings of the employed amounted to MOP13,000 in the first quarter of 2014, up by MOP700 quarter-to-quarter, with those engaging in Gaming and the Construction Sector earning MOP17,000 and MOP12,000 respectively. Moreover, median monthly employment earnings of the employed local residents held stable at MOP15,000.
