Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that both the unemployment rate (1.9%) and the underemployment rate (0.5%) for May-July 2016 remained stable as in April-June 2016.

Total labour force was 399,400 and the labour force participation rate stood at 72.5%. Total employment increased by 1,600 from April-June, at 392,000. Analysed by industry, employment in Wholesale & Retail Trade registered increase, while that in Gaming & Junket Activities saw decrease.

Number of the unemployed was 7,400, similar to that in April-June. With fresh graduates joining the labour market, the proportion of fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job increased by 6.5 percentage points to 15.5% of the total unemployed.

In comparison with May-July 2015, the labour force participation rate dropped by 1.2 percentage points, while both the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point.