Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the general unemployment rate for November 2018-January 2019 was 1.7%, the unemployment rate of local residents stood at 2.4%, and the underemployment rate was 0.4%. All three indicators remained stable from the previous period (October-December 2018).

Total labour force was 398,400 and the labour force participation rate was 71.5%. Total employment was 391,500 and number of employed residents totalled 287,100, up by 3,500 and 3,300 respectively from the previous period. Analysed by industry, employment in Gaming & Junket Activities increased while that in the Transport, Storage & Communications Sector decreased.

Number of the unemployed was 6,900, similar to the previous period. Fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 13.7% of the total unemployed, up by 1.9 percentage points.

In comparison with November 2017-January 2018, the labour force participation rate rose by 1.7 percentage points; the unemployment rate dropped by 0.1 percentage point while the underemployment rate held steady.