34


Economic Trends by José I. Duarte


TABLE 1 - Employment by sector (In thousands of jobs)


350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0


2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Manufacturing Construction


Hotel and Restaurants Social services


Gambling Retail Administration Domestic


Education Other


Employment and earnings TABLE 1


The period between 2004 and last year represents a remarkable period for Macau’s economy and the dynamics of its labour force. In just fi ve years, the total number of employed workers rose by about 45 percent or about 100,000 workers in absolute terms. These fi gures hide the diversity between each of the economy’s sectors. For example, manufacturing was the biggest employer in Macau in 2004. The sector has since lost more than half of its workforce, against the trend in other sectors. It is now ranked sixth, a position that may shortly be lost to the domestic helpers sector if current trends continue.


TABLE 2 - Average earnings


in major surveyed sectors (In patacas)


18,000


14,000 16,000


12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0


04S1 04S2 05S1 05S2 06S1 06S2 07S1 07S2 08S1 08S2 09S1 09S2 10S1 Manufacturing Hotel and Restaurants Retail Gambling


In the construction sector, the size of the workforce more than doubled in size in three years earlier this decade, but now appears to be past its peak in 2007-08. Somewhat surprisingly, the number of retail workers has increased by just 20 percent. That makes the hotels and restaurants group, and gaming the only major employment drivers in this sector, having seen their ranks multiply by a factor of 1.8 and 2.7, respectively.


Curiously enough, the champion when judged on relative growth is the comparatively small domestic helpers sector. Its size has more than tripled, making it bigger than the education sector.


TABLE 2


TABLE 3 - Median earnings for select sectors (In patacas)


25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0


2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Manufacturing


Hotel and Restaurants Leisure services


Construction Administration Domestic Retail


In the bigger and most closely watched sectors, average earnings increased throughout the period, by values between 40 and 90 percent. In a period were infl ation was not signifi cant, these fi gures suggest a palpable growth in real earnings. The strongest performance was registered in the hospitality sector, refl ecting neatly the opening of several luxury hotels.


TABLE 3


The trend of steadily appreciating average wages is consistent, although not completely comparable, with the median earnings in various sectors obtained from the general survey. The different classifi cation used in this survey means direct comparisons cannot be made, which is particularly regrettable for the gaming sector. Where comparisons are possible, there appears to be an increase in earnings asymmetries in the most dynamic sectors.


OCTOBER 2010


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