The local unemployment rate stood at 1.9 per cent as at the end of May. While total employment in the gaming industry registered a slight decrease, employment in the wholesale & retail trade posted an increase, the latest official data released yesterday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) shows.
From March to May, the city’s total labour force fell slightly by 0.3 per cent to 396,200 compared to 397,300 for February to April. Of the total, 388,600 were employed, down by 1,000 compared to the previous period.
On the other hand, the total number of unemployed people was 7,600, a decrease of 100 from the previous period. According to DSEC, fresh labour force entrants searching for their first jobs accounted for 5.1 per cent of the total unemployed population, which rose slightly by 0.1 percentage points period-on-period.
Fewer gaming workers
During the three month period, a total of 83,100 local workers were employed in the gaming industry, including junket activities, a drop of 0.9 per cent compared to 83,800 for February to April.
In addition, the number of workers in the construction field fell by 0.4 per cent period-on-period from 47,700 to 47,500. Employment in restaurants and similar activities was also down by 2.9 per cent year-on-year from 27,800 to 27,000.
The city’s hotel establishments also saw their total number of workers decrease by 0.5 per cent period-on-period to 29,000 compared to 29,200 for the previous period.
Nevertheless, there were more workers employed in the wholesale & retail trade sectors in the three month period, with the total number growing by 1.5 per cent period-on-period from 41,800 to 42,400.
In terms of proportion, the gaming, recreational and cultural industry made up 24.5 per cent of the local employed population, followed by hotels, restaurants and similar activities, and construction, accounting for 14.4 per cent and 12.2 per cent of the total, respectively.
Other employed workers were primarily engaged in real estate and business activities, public administration and social security and domestic work as at the end of May, representing 7.9 per cent, 7.1 per cent and 6.3 per cent of the total, respectively.
On a year-on-year comparison, the city’s unemployment rate and underemployment rate rose by 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points respectively between March and May, while the labour force participation rate declined by 2 percentage points.
