Macao's unemployment rate dips 0.3 % in Q1

MACAO, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Macao saw its unemployment rate for the first quarter of 2008 stood at 2.9 percent, slightly decreasing by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year, according to an employment survey result released on Monday.

The survey result, released by Macao's Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC), showed that from January to March this year, local unemployed population was estimated at 9,600, among which about 700 were searching for their first job, while the unemployment rate of local residents (excluding non-resident workers) stood at 3.7 percent for the same period.

According to DSEC, the island city's total labor force was estimated at 327,000 and the labor force participation rate was 70.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, increasing by 3.7 percentage points over the same period of 2007.

Meanwhile, an increase in the number of persons working in manufacturing, recreational, cultural and gaming industries pushed the employed population for the period to 317,000.

Official figures released earlier has indicated that the island city has a population of over 530,000.