MACAO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The unemployment rate of local residents in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) stood at 2.2 percent during the November 2025 to January 2026 period, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous period (October-December 2025), data from the SAR's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) showed on Monday.

Among the 6,500 unemployed residents, the DSEC noted, most had previously worked in retail trade as well as real estate and business activities. The proportion of first-time jobseekers dropped to 9.2 percent.

The underemployment rate of local residents increased by 0.2 percentage points to 2.2 percent, the statistics department said. The majority of them worked in the sectors of transport and storage, and real estate and business activities. ■