Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for February-April 2013 held stable at 1.9% in comparison with the previous period (January-March); the underemployment rate was 0.8%, up by 0.1 percentage point. Total labour force was 359,400 and the labour force participation rate stood at 71.8%. Total employment reached 352,400, an increase of 600 from the previous period. Analysed by industry, increase in employment was observed in Gaming and Retail Trade, but employment in Restaurants & Similar Activities registered a decrease. Number of the unemployed totalled 7,000, an increase of 200 from the previous period; fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 4.2% of the total unemployed, down by 2.0 percentage points. In comparison with February-April 2012, the labour force participation rate and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.6 and 0.1 percentage points respectively, and the underemployment rate remained unchanged.
