Macau\'s Q3 08 Unemployment Rate Rises Slightly

Macau's unemployment rate increased slightly to 3.1% in the July to September period from 3% in the June-August period, the results of the Employment Survey released by the Statistics and Census Service showed Tuesday. On a yearly basis, however, the jobless rate remained unchanged at 3.1%.

In July-September, there were 10,500 unemployed persons, reflecting an increase of 400 persons compared to the previous three-month period. The jobless rate for the residents in the three-month period of July-September was 4%.

The underemployment rate declined to 1.5% in July to September period from 1.6% in the June to August period, but was higher than the 1.1% in the July to September period of 2007.

Meanwhile, the number of employed persons totaled 326,900, an increase of 300 persons from the previous three-month period.

During the three months ended September, there were 337,400 persons in the labor force, with the participation rate standing at 70.7%. The participation rate for males declined slightly to 77.8% from 77.9% in the previous three-month period, while for females, the rate fell to 63.8% from 64.1%.

Source: RTTNews