Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the general unemployment rate for January-March 2018 held stable as in the previous period (December 2017-February 2018), at 1.9%; the unemployment rate of local residents was 2.6% and the underemployment rate was 0.6%, up by 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points respectively from the previous period.

Total labour force was 388,000 and the labour force participation rate was 70.6%. Total employment was 380,500 and number of employed residents totalled 280,100, up by 2,200 and 1,600 respectively from the previous period. Number of the unemployed was 7,500, up by 300 from the previous period. Fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 6.8% of the total unemployed, down by 0.9 percentage points.

In the first quarter of 2018, the general unemployment rate (1.9%) remained unchanged from the previous quarter, while the unemployment rate of local residents (2.6%) edged up by 0.1 percentage point. Total employment increased by 4,600 quarter-to-quarter, of which number of employed residents went up by 3,700. Analysed by industry, employment in Gaming & Junket Activities (83,000) and Hotels, Restaurants & Similar Activities (56,000) rose by 3,500 and 1,800 respectively, while that in the Transport, Storage & Communications Sector (19,300) decreased by 2,300.

Median monthly employment earnings of the employed in the first quarter increased by MOP500 quarter-to-quarter to MOP16,000, with those engaging in Gaming & Junket Activities and Construction earning MOP20,000 and MOP15,000 respectively. Moreover, median earnings of the employed residents grew by MOP1,000 quarter-to-quarter to MOP20,000.