Thai employment on a decline with farm jobs down

Agricultural employment in Thailand dropped 5% in the second quarter year-on-year. - Bloomberg

BANGKOK: Employment in Thailand dropped 0.4% in the second quarter from a year earlier due to lower farm jobs, after a 0.1% year-on-year dip in the previous quarter, the state planning agency said on Monday (Aug 26).

Agricultural employment dropped 5% in the second quarter year-on-year, while non-farm jobs rose 1.5% on the year, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) said in a statement.

Jobs in the hotel and restaurant sector were up 4.9% year-on-year in the April-June quarter while manufacturing employment increased 2.2%, the agency said.

The jobless rate rose to 1.07% in the April-June quarter from 1.01% in the previous three months, NESDC head Danucha Pichayanan told a press briefing, citing the closure of smaller businesses as a factor.

Thailand's definition of unemployment is narrow and only counts as jobless those who do not work a single hour in a surveyed week, however. Analysts say the figures do not catch Thailand's significant unofficial economy.

In the second quarter, Thailand had a total workforce of 40.18 million, little changed from 40.2 million in the previous three months.

South-East Asia's second-largest economy grew 2.3% in the April-June quarter on the year, beating expectations.

The planning agency forecast growth of 2.5% this year, after last year's 1.9% expansion, which lagged regional peers. - Reuters