Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the general unemployment rate for May-July 2019 was 1.8%, and the unemployment rate of local residents was 2.4%; meanwhile, the underemployment rate was 0.5%. All the three indicators increased by 0.1 percentage point from the previous period (April-June 2019).

Total labour force was 394,100 and the labour force participation rate was 70.3%. Total employment was 387,100 and number of employed residents totalled 281,700, down by 100 and 600 respectively from the previous period. Analysed by industry, employment in Gaming & Junket Activities decreased while that in Wholesale & Retail Trade increased.

Number of the unemployed was 7,000, up by 400 from the previous period. With fresh graduates entering the labour market, the proportion of new labour market entrants seeking their first job increased by 4.1 percentage points to 15.2% of the total unemployed.

In comparison with May-July 2018, the unemployment rate stayed steady, while the labour force participation rate and the underemployment rate dropped by 0.8 and 0.1 percentage points respectively.