The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Macao fell to the lowest level in four years from February to April, dipping 0.1 percentage point from the first quarter and 0.2 year-on-year to 6.2 percent, the latest official figures show.
The Statistics and Census Services said the sectors of finance, hotel and catering, real estate, renting, service for companies and gaming and entertainment service have added work force, on the back of burgeoning tourism business and a liberalized gambling industry.
The improvement was not matched by the construction and manufacturing industries, which were still plagued by severe unemployment.
The authorities foresee the pay roll in the construction sector will start to increase in the second half of this year due to construction of a host of large public and private projects, while that of the manufacturing industry will have to count on the recovering pace of the U.S. market, a major importer of Macao-made goods.
The total labor force from February to April was estimated at 215,000, including 202,000 employees and 13,300 jobless.
The under-employment rate for the special administrative region-- reflecting those who work part-time or short hours -- maintained the same level of the first quarter and dropped 0.2 percentage points year-on-year to 3.6 percent.
The jobless rate reached a peak in the history -- 7.1 percent --in the second quarter of 2000 and lingered in a range of 6.3 to 6.6 percent in 2001, according to statistics.
(Xinhua News Agency May 25, 2002)
