The overall unemployment rate in Macau rose to 2% between June and August in relation to the previous period, with the authorities of the territory attributing the increase to the entry of new graduates into the labour market.
© Lusa
25/09/2026
by
Lusa
According to the Directorate of Statistics and Censuses (DSEC), the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points with the rise in the number of unemployed in search of the first job. The unemployment rate in the city has been rising since March, when it reached 1.6%.
The number of residents seeking the first job represented 18.9% of the total, an increase of 6.7 percentage points compared to the previous period.
However, the unemployment rate for Macau residents was 2.5%, with the number of unemployed residents reaching 7,500 people, most of whom sought new work had worked in the lottery and other gambling and wholesale and retail trade sectors.
Regarding the distribution of residents employed (286.4 thousand in total), the largest share is concentrated on cultural and recreational activities, lottery and other services with 25%, followed by wholesale and retail trade with 12.4%, public administration and social security with 11%, and hotels, restaurants and similar with 10.6%.
The underemployment rate of residents fell to 2.0%, minus 0.2 percentage points, affecting 5,900 people in this situation, especially in the branches of services provided to companies and construction.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), underemployment occurs when a person's employment conditions are inadequate or insufficient compared to another working situation that he could and would like to exercise.
According to preliminary estimates, the total workforce was around 495,700 people, minus 100 compared to the previous period.