- Total employment in the services sector continued its uptrend. In Q1 2024, total employment declined by 127,000 jobs QoQ to 51.3 million (+174,100 jobs YoY). According to GSO, the decline in employment was due to seasonal factors (seen pre-pandemic). Of the total employment, employment in the industrial & construction sector fell by 196,300 jobs QoQ to 17 million (-336,399 jobs YoY), while employment in the agriculture, forestry & fishery sector was at 13.8 million, nearly unchanged from the previous quarter (-65,400 jobs YoY). In contrast, employment in the services sector (accounting for 40.0% of total employment) added around 72,400 jobs QoQ (+575,800 jobs YoY). (Figure 1 & 2).

- Formal employment increased, while informal employment dropped. In Q1 2024, the number for formal employment continued to grow by around 68,700 people QoQ to 18.1 million (-66,022 people YoY), while the number of informal employment dropped by around 195,800 people QoQ to 33.3 million (+240,100 people YoY). As a result, the informal employment rate edged down 0.3% to 64.8% in Q1 2024, the second lowest level in Q1 of the past five years. (Figures 3 & 4).

- Unemployment declined for the second consecutive quarter. In Q1 2024, unemployment continued to decline by nearly 10,400 people (+1,700 YoY), bringing total unemployment to 1.1 million and the unemployment rate at 2.04% (-0.01 ppts QoQ and nearly unchanged YoY) – the second lowest quarterly level since the Covid-19 pandemic. (Figures 5 & 6).

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