Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate (1.7%) and the underemployment rate (0.4%) for April-June 2014 held stable as March-May.

Total labour force increased to 390,100 and the labour force participation rate stood at 73.4%. Total employment was 383,600, an increase of 2,500 from March-May.

Number of the unemployed was 6,500, similar to March-May; fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 15.0% of the total unemployed, up by 4.3 percentage points.

Compared with the first quarter of 2014, the general unemployment rate (1.7%) and the unemployment rate of local residents (2.3%) for the second quarter remained unchanged. Total labour force registered an increase of 5,900, with total employment rising by 5,700. Analysed by industry, employment in the Construction sector increased by 7,000 quarter-to-quarter to 50,900 (13.3% of total employment), while employment in Gaming decreased by 5,500, at 80,100.

Median monthly employment earnings of the employed held stable as the previous quarter, at MOP13,000 in the second quarter; median earnings of those engaging in Gaming and the Construction Sector amounted to MOP16,000 and MOP14,000 respectively. Moreover, median earnings of the employed residents stayed unchanged quarter-to-quarter, at MOP15,000.