Unemployment down in July

The number of people who found jobs rose by 1.5 per cent compared to the same period last year, with notable rises in the hotel and restaurant sector and wholesale and retail trades, the National Statistical Office reported yesterday.

The office's survey for July found that, out of 52.85 million people over 15 years of age, some 39.3 million either had jobs or were looking for work. A total of about 38.8 million had jobs, while 480,000 were unemployed and 20,000 were waiting for harvesting to start.

The 480,000 figure for those out of work was 1.2 per cent less than July 2008 and 70,000 persons less than in March, when 550,000 were jobless.

Some 300,000 of those out of work in July had worked before - 140,000 in the manufacturing sector, and 130,000 workers in the service and commerce industries. The other 180,000 had no work experience and were mostly aged from 15 to 24, the survey found.

The Central region and the Northeast had the most people unemployed - estimated at 120,000 in each region, followed by 110,000 jobless in the North and 70,000 in the South.

Bangkok had 50,000 people out of work, while other regions saw slight falls in unemployment of 0.1-0.4 per cent compared to the same period last year. Bangkok and the North had small rises in unemployment, of 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively, it was found.

Compared to July 2008, the number of workers rose by 590,000 or 1.5 per cent, though the agriculture sector saw a drop of 90,000 workers and the construction sector saw a drop of 60,000 workers.

The hotel and restaurant sector enjoyed the biggest jump - with 260,000 more workers, followed by the wholesale and retail trades (up by 180,000), plus the civil service (up by 80,000), it was reported.