This Nov 18, 2019 photo shows a view of Macao Special Administrative Region in South China. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

MACAO - Macao's general unemployment rate and the unemployment rate of local residents for the period from February to April 2022 held steady from the previous period from January to March 2022, the special administrative region's statistics department said on Friday.

The underemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to 3.0 percent, while the labor force participation rate was 69.1 percent in Macao, according to the DSEC report

The latest report from Macao's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the general unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the period from February to April and the unemployment rate for local residents was 4.5 percent.

The underemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to 3.0 percent, while the labor force participation rate was 69.1 percent, the DSEC report added.

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The labor force living in Macao totaled 383,700 people for the period from February to April. Total employment was 370,400 and the number of employed residents totaled 278,800, down by 800 and 100 respectively from the previous period, showed the report.

The number of unemployed was 13,300, similar to that in the previous period.

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Meanwhile, the proportion of new labor market entrants seeking their first job increased by 0.3 percentage point to 6.2 percent of the total unemployed.

The number of the underemployed grew by 1,000 from the previous period to 11,600.