Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that both the unemployment rate (1.7%) and the underemployment rate (0.4%) for December 2014-February 2015 continued to remain stable as in November 2014-January 2015. Total labour force was 403,400 and the labour force participation rate stood at 74.0%. Total employment was 396,500, a decrease of 1,300 from November 2014-January 2015. Analysed by industry, employment in Hotels, Restaurants & Similar Activities and Construction saw decrease. Number of the unemployed was 6,900, up by 200 from November 2014-January 2015; fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 9.2% of the total unemployed, down by 2.1 percentage points. In comparison with December 2013-February 2014, the labour force participation rate increased by 0.6 percentage points, while both the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate remained constant.
