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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI (108.74) for April 2011 increased by 4.88% year-on-year. The increase was attributable to higher charges for meals bought away from home, as well as hair dressing and grooming services, dearer prices of gasoline and gold jewellery; however, rising electricity subsidy from the Government to all households and lower charges for telecommunication services offset part of the increment. For the 12 months ended April 2011, the average Composite CPI increased by 3.88% from the previous period; the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 3.47% and 4.06% respectively. In comparison with April 2010, notable increase was observed in the price index of Transport (+8.73%); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+8.59%); Recreation & Culture (+7.33%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+6.52%) and Health (+6.48%) on account of dearer prices of gasoline, airfare, LP gas and gold jewellery, as well as higher charges for outbound package tours, meals bought away from home, and hairdressing and grooming services. On the contrary, price index of Communication decreased by 8.25% year-on-year. The CPI-A (107.90) and CPI-B (109.08) for April 2011 increased by 4.39% and 5.08% respectively. The Composite CPI for April 2011 increased by 0.10% month-to-month, of which the price index of Clothing & Footwear; and Transport rose by 1.41% and 1.30% respectively; however, price index of Housing & Fuels decreased by 1.63%. The CPI-A for April 2011 decreased by 0.15% month-to-month, while the CPI-B increased by 0.2%. The average Composite CPI for the first four months of 2011 increased by 4.99% year-on-year; the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 4.66% and 5.17% respectively. The 2008/2009-based Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP6,000 to MOP18,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP19,000 to MOP34,999.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (18th May 16:01 till 19th May 16:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1160 and 0.1291μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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The Macao Meteorological & Geophysical Bureau had analyzed the conditions of the oceans and the general atmospheric circulation between the recent winter and the present period, noticing that the sea surface temperature over the eastern to the middle part of the Equatorial Pacific had started cooling since last July and developed into a La Niña phenomenon late last year. However, trend of gradual weakening was shown since February this year. According to climatic data, there had been an annual average of 4.5 tropical cyclones affecting Macao for the past ten years. While at the same time, as we are now within a "weak La Niña" year, an above average number of tropical cyclones are expecting to affect us this year. From the above analysis, a preliminary outlook for this year had been outlined. We are expecting a number of 5 tropical cyclones or above affecting Macao this year of which around 2 of them leading to a typhoon signal number eight or above. The first tropical cyclone to affect us is expected to be around mid to late June which is earlier than normal, while the last one will be around mid October lying close to normal. Besides, the average temperature and precipitation of this summer (June till August) will be normal, that is approximately 28 degrees Celsius with a total rainfall ranging between 700 and 1200mm respectively.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that total spending (excluding gaming expenses) of visitors reached MOP 9.8 billion in the first quarter of 2011, up by 13% in comparison with MOP 8.7 billion from a year earlier; per-capita spending of visitors amounted to MOP 1,516, an increase of 7% compared with MOP 1,417 in the first quarter of 2010. Analyzed by place of residence, per-capita spending of Mainland visitors was MOP 1,928 and that of Japan at MOP 1,366; Southeast Asia at MOP 1,166; Hong Kong at MOP 873; and Taiwan, China at MOP 856. Per-capita spending of tourists (overnight visitors) increased by 14% year-on-year to MOP 2,623, whereas that of same-day visitors decreased by 1% to MOP 600. Per-capita spending of overnight and same-day Mainland visitors amounted to MOP 3,334 and MOP 770 respectively. In the first quarter of 2011, per-capita non-shopping spending of visitors stood at MOP 777, up by 10% compared with MOP 706 from a year earlier, of which expenses on Accommodation and Food & Beverage accounted for 45% and 36% respectively. Japan visitors had the highest per-capita non-shopping spending of MOP 1,182 and that of overnight Japanese visitors reached MOP 1,923. Per-capita shopping spending of visitors increased by 4% from MOP 712 in the first quarter of 2010 to MOP 739, with Local Food Products (27%), Jewellery & Watches (19%) and Clothing (19%) being the more popular shopping items. Mainland visitors had the highest per-capita shopping spending of MOP 1,152 and that of overnight Mainland visitors amounted to MOP 1,773. Per-diem spending of visitors amounted to MOP 1,516 in the first quarter of 2011, up by 7% year-on-year. Per-diem spending of Mainland visitors stood at MOP 1,880 and that of visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan, China was MOP 873 and MOP 856 respectively. The average length of stay of visitors was similar as the first quarter of 2010, at 0.9 day, with visitors from Oceania staying an average of 1.4 days. Average length of stay of overnight visitors increased by 0.1 day to 1.8 days and overnight visitors from Oceania had the longest stay of 2.5 days. Average length of stay of same-day visitors held stable at 0.2 day. Total spending and per-capita spending of visitors for the first quarter of 2011 were extrapolated from about 52,700 effective questionnaires collected; besides, data on the first quarter of 2010 has been re-compiled accordingly to facilitate direct comparison.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (18th May 10:01 till 19th May 10:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1160 and 0.1291μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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Director of Macau Government Tourism Office João Manuel Costa Antunes led a delegation comprising deputy directors and department heads to Hong Kong today (May 18) to meet and exchange with the Tourism Commission of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR , Hong Kong Tourism Board and Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong. MGTO met with the Tourism Commission, Hong Kong Tourism Board and Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong for the annual meeting. MGTO Director João Manuel Costa Antunes and Commissioner for Tourism Philip Yung spoke at the meeting, followed by representatives of the two parties reviewing the tourism performance in 2010 and development in 2011. Discussions also included priority markets and joint promotion of MGTO and HKTB. Members of the delegation included Director of MGTO João Manuel Costa Antunes, Deputy Directors Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes and Manuel Pires, Head of Promotion and Marketing Department Cecilia Tse, Head of Licensing and Inspection Department Ines Chan and Head of Research and Planning Department Cheng Wai Tong. Participants from Hong Kong included Commissioner for Tourism Philip Yung and Deputy Commissioner Rosanna Law, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board Anthony Lau and General Manager of Business Development Patrick Kwok, Chairman of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong Michael Wu and Executive Director Joseph Tung, among others. Commissioner for Tourism of Hong Kong hosted a luncheon for the MGTO delegation after the meeting.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (17th May 16:01 till 18th May 16:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1169 and 0.1300μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the 25 banks in Macao had a total of 4 862 employees at the end of the first quarter of 2011, up by 5.0% year-on-year. Analyzed by occupation, 2 245 were clerks, with 807 being bank tellers, up by 5.9% and 5.6% respectively year-on-year; technicians and associate professionals totalled 1 292, an increase of 5.0%. In March 2011, average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) of full-time employees amounted to MOP19 650, up by 2.0% year-on-year. Average earnings of directors and managers amounted to 40 720, up by 3.1% year-on-year, while average earnings of bank tellers held stable at MOP10 760, same as a year earlier. At the end of the first quarter of 2011, number of vacancies of the Banking Sector totalled 278, a notable increase of 46.3% year-on-year; vacancy for clerks stood at 147, with 44 for bank tellers. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 75.2% of the vacancies required working experience, and 77.7% required tertiary education. Besides Cantonese, other preferred language skills were Mandarin (97.1%) and English (82.7%). In the first quarter of 2011, employee turnover rate of the Banking Sector went up by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year to 3.7%; at the same time, the employee recruitment rate (4.4%) and job vacancy rate (5.4%) rose by 0.7 and 1.4 percentage points respectively, indicating an increase in the demand of human resources.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of the Employment Survey for the first quarter of 2011, of which principal indicators such as the labour force participation rate (71.5%) and unemployment rate (2.7%) were published in April. Total labour force was 334,000 in the first quarter of 2011, comprising 325,000 employed and 8,900 unemployed. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2010, total labour force and the employed population registered an increase of 3,500 each, and the number of unemployed was similar to the previous quarter. Analyzed by industry, the majority of the employed were engaging in Recreational, Cultural, Gaming & Other Services (23.6%), as well as Hotels, Restaurants & Similar Activities (14.0%). In terms of occupation, Clerks (including croupiers, floorpersons, betting service operators, etc.) and Service & Sales Workers accounted for 26.7% and 22.9% of the total respectively. Median monthly employment earnings of the employed increased by MOP 600 quarter-to-quarter to MOP 9,600 and that of the local residents held stable at MOP 10,000. Number of the underemployed totalled 4,800, with 67.8% engaging in Construction and 9.8% in Transport, Storage & Communications. In respect of the unemployed, 93.5% were searching for a new job and 6.5% were fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job. With regard to educational attainment, 32.9% had primary education or lower, 26.9% had junior secondary education and 24.5% had senior secondary education. For the unemployed that were searching for a new job, analyzed by industry previously engaged, 19.2% had worked in Wholesale & Retail Trade and 18.6% in Construction. Analyzed by previous occupation, 22.5% were Clerks and 21.0% were Service & Sales Workers.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (17th May 10:01 till 18th May 10:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1169 and 0.1318μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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