The unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2011 was 2.1 percent, down by 0.2 percentage points over the previous period (September-November 2011).

This is the lowest unemployment rate ever registered in Macau, according to the records available from the Statistics and Census Service, which go back until 1996.

Figures from the Statistics and Census Service show that the total labour force was 374,000 between October and December, and the labour force participation rate stood at 72.9 percent.

Of the 7,400 unemployed, around 12.4 percent were fresh entrants to the job market looking for their first job, down by 2.9 percent over the previous period.