Macao's unemployment rate remains stable at 2.9%

MACAO, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Unemployment rate in Macao for the period of March to May this year stood at 2.9 percent, which slightly dropped by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year, according to the figures released on Friday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The figures showed that total labor force was 329,200 in the period, with labor force participation rate standing at 70.5 percent, up by 2.5 percentage points year-on-year.

The unemployed population reached around 9,600 in the period, with 3.9 percent of the total searching for their first job, and the underemployment rate went up by 0.7 percentage point year-on-year to 1.6 percent, according to the DSEC.

Meanwhile, the employed population rose by 1,500 over the previous period to 319,600, with increase in the number of persons working in transport, storage and communications sector and retail trade, but decrease in the manufacturing sector.