Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the general unemployment rate for April-June 2018 held stable as in the previous period (March-May), at 1.8%; the unemployment rate of local residents was 2.4%, down by 0.1 percentage point. Meanwhile, the underemployment rate remained unchanged at 0.5%.
Total labour force was 392,300 and the labour force participation rate was 71.0%. Total employment was 385,400 and number of employed residents totalled 284,200, up by 2,300 and 1,700 respectively from the previous period. Number of the unemployed was 6,900, down by 300 from the previous period. Fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 10.8% of the total unemployed, up by 5.2 percentage points.
In the second quarter of 2018, the general unemployment rate (1.8%) and the unemployment rate of local residents (2.4%) decreased by 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points respectively from the previous quarter. Total employment increased by 4,900 quarter-to-quarter, with number of employed residents rising by 4,100. Analysed by industry, employment in the Construction Sector (32,100) and Gaming & Junket Activities (85,100) rose by 3,300 and 2,100 respectively quarter-to-quarter, while that in Transport, Storage & Communications (17,200) decreased by 2,100.
Median monthly employment earnings of the employed held stable as in the previous quarter, at MOP16,000 in the second quarter, with those engaging in Gaming & Junket Activities and Construction earning MOP20,000 and MOP15,000 respectively. Moreover, median earnings of the employed residents stayed unchanged from the first quarter, at MOP20,000.