Macao's unemployment rate for the period of October to December 2010 decreased by 0.1 percentage point over the previous period to 2.7 percent, the lowest since the Handover of Macao to China in 1999, according to the figures released on Thursday (Jan 25) by the city's Statistics and Census Service ( DSEC).
The number of the unemployed decreased by about 200 from the previous period to 8,900 between October and December, with 10.5 percent being fresh labor force entrants searching for their first job, the figures indicated.
In comparison with the same period of the previous year, the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate dropped by 0.4 and 0.2 percentage point respectively, and the labor force participation rate rose by 0.4 percentage point, according to the DSEC.
The city's total labor force stood at 331,000 in the period, with the labor force participation rate at 71.4 percent, up by 0.2 percentage point from the previous period.
The employed population decreased by about 200 over the previous period to 322,000, in which employment of the construction sector saw increase, while that of restaurants and similar activities, and manufacturing registered a decrease, the DSEC also said.
