Jobs as usual

The city’s overall jobless rate stood at 1.9 per cent for the whole year of 2016, while that of local residents reached 2.7 per cent, the latest official data released yesterday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) shows.
Compared to 2015, the local general unemployment rate went up by 0.1 percentage points, and the jobless rate of local residents rose by 0.2 percentage points.
Meanwhile, median monthly employment earnings in the MSAR reached MOP15,000 (US$1,875) for the whole year, while that of local residents amounted to MOP18,000, both figures remaining unchanged compared to 2015.
In addition, the median monthly employment earnings per household continued to hover at MOP28,000 similar to 2015, according to DSEC.
As at the end of 2016, the city’s total labour force amounted to 392,600, of which those who were employed accounted for some 385,000, a drop of 500 compared to the period of September to November, or a decrease of 9,200 compared to the third quarter of 2016.
The total unemployed population, on the other hand, reached 7,600 as at the end of last year, of which 8.9 per cent were fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, the Bureau said.

Industries
Analysed by industry, 23.7 per cent of the city’s employed population were working in the fields of recreational, cultural, gaming and other services as at the end of the year.
Some 14.9 per cent, meanwhile, were employed in hotels, restaurants & similar activities, followed by another 12 per cent working for the wholesale & retail industries.
The other major employers were the construction industry, real estate & business activities and public administration & social security sectors.
However, the city’s construction industry saw its employment drop by 7,900 quarter-to-quarter to 37,200 as at the end of last year, due to the successive completion of large-scale casino projects in the city, DSEC explained.
Compared to 39,300 for the September-November period, the number of employed construction workers also dropped by 2,100.
In addition, both the wholesale & retail trade and hotel business saw fewer workers as at the end of the year compared to the September-November period, down by 1.2 per cent and 2.5 per cent, amounting to 46,300 and 30,200, respectively.
Nevertheless, period-on-period, total employment in the city’s gaming and junket activities jumped by 4.4 per cent to 79,600 while that of restaurant businesses also registered an increase of 1 per cent to 27,000.