MACAO, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Macao's general unemployment rate for the period from November 2020 to January 2021 held steady over the previous period from October to December 2020, at 2.7 percent, the special administrative region's statistics department said on Friday.
The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate of local residents was 3.7 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous period.
The underemployment rate dropped 0.6 percentage point to 4.4 percent, while the labor force participation rate was 70.5 percent, the DSEC report added.
The labor force living in Macao totaled 400,100. Total employment was 389,200 and the number of employed residents totaled 284,100, up 400 and 2,600 respectively from the previous period.
Analyzed by industry, the number of employed persons in wholesale and retail trade and education increased, while that in the construction sector decreased.
The number of unemployed fell 100 from the previous period to 10,900. Among the unemployed population searching for a new job, most of them were previously engaged in gaming and junket activities and the construction sector.
Meanwhile, the proportion of new labor market entrants seeking their first job decreased 1.4 percentage points to 10.2 percent of the total unemployed.
The number of the underemployed decreased 2,500 to 17,700, with the majority working in gaming and junket activities and the transport and storage sector.
In comparison with the period from November 2019 to January 2020, the underemployment rate and the unemployment rate increased 4.0 and 1.0 percentage points respectively, while the labor force participation rate dropped 0.2 percentage point. Enditem