- Employment continued to trend up in the industrial & construction and services, while agriculture lost jobs. Total employment increased by 130,400 jobs in Q4 2023 to 51.5 million (+450,000 jobs YoY). Of the total increase in Q4 2023, the industrial & construction sector added nearly 92,000 jobs to reach 17.2 million (+221,000 jobs YoY), while the services sector also added 58,600 jobs to reach 20.47 million (+542,000 jobs YoY). In contrast, employment in the agriculture, forestry & fishery sector continued to narrow for the fourth consecutive quarter, falling by 20,100 jobs to 13.8 million (-348,000 jobs YoY). 

- Unemployment edged down. In Q4 2023, total unemployment declined by around 16,920 (-12,720 YoY) to 1.1 million, resulting in an unemployment rate of 2.06% (vs 2.09% in Q3 2023). Meanwhile, total underemployment fell by around 27,000 QoQ to nearly 1.0 million, leading to an underemployment rate of 1,94% as of Q4 2023 (vs 2.0% in Q3 2023).

- Local authorities’ reports showed layoffs eased further. According to reports from local authorities, the number of people that lost their jobs in Q4 2023 continued to drop by 32,900 people QoQ to around 85,500 people (vs 118,400 in Q3 2023, 217,800 in Q2 2023, and 149,000 jobs lost in Q1 2023). Meanwhile, the number of people that got paid/unpaid leave or suspended contracts increased by 23,600 people QoQ to around 77,800 people in Q4 2023, mainly in footwear (31.9% of the total) and textiles (30.9%). However, this figure was much lower compared to those recorded in Q2 2023 (241,500), Q1 2023 (294,000), and Q4 2022 (296,000).

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