Macao's unemployment rate remains stable at 3.1%

MACAO, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Despite the sweeping effects of the global financial crisis, Macao's unemployment rate for the period of August to October 2008 stayed stable at 3.1 percent, slightly up by 0.1 percentage point over the same period of last year, according to the figures Friday released by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The DSEC figures showed that the unemployed population was 10,400, with 2,500 (23.7 percent of the total) searching for their first job, and the underemployment rate for the period reached 1.5percent, increasing by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year.

Number of Macao's total labor force stood at 338,800, with labor force participation rate for the period standing at 70.6 percent, up by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year.

The employed population grew by 1,600 over the previous period of July to September to 328,400, with increase in the number of persons working in recreational, cultural, gaming and other service, but decrease in that working in the manufacturing sector and real estate and business activities, according to the DSEC.