According to the results of the Employment Survey released by the
Statistics and Census Service, the unemployment rate for April-June
2008 was 2.8%, down by 0.1 percentage point over the previous period
(March-May 2008) and by 0.2 percentage point year-on-year. The underemployment
rate remained unchanged from the previous period, at 1.6%, but up
by 0.6 percentage point year-on-year.
Total labour force was 330,000 in April-June 2008; the labour force
participation rate stayed at 70.5%, same as that in March-May 2008,
but up by 1.8 percentage points year-on-year.
The employed population rose by 1,700 over the previous period
to 321,000, with increases in the number of persons working in Wholesale
& Retail Trade and Construction, but slight decrease in Hotels,
Restaurants & Similar Activities.
The unemployed population was 9,100, a decrease of 500 from the
previous period, with 600 (6.2% of the total) searching for their
first job, up by 2.3 percentage points over the previous period.
In addition, the unemployment rate of local residents (excluding
non-resident workers) stood at 3.4% for April-June of 2008, and
the respective labour force participation rate was 64.1%.
Related information: Employment
Survey / April-June 2008