Unemployment Statistics Revealed by MOL

          The Ministry of Labour’s Inspector-General and spokesperson Mr. Ananchai Uthaipattanacheep, explained that the National Statistics Office disclosed information from March 2017, revealing Thailand’s unemployment rate of 1.3 percent, an increase of 99,000 vacancies from the same month last year. The total number of vacancies was 274,000, which was mostly workers who had previous employment, an increase of 49,000 people; this comprised 125,000 in the services and trading industry, 105,000 from the manufacturing industry and 44,000 from the agricultural industry.
          The Ministry of Labour’s analysis of job vacancies from the Department of Employment in the first quarter of 2017, found over 50,000 vacancies. On the other hand, jobthai.com has forecasted over 87,000 vacancies in quarter 2 nationwide. Their statistics found Bangkok to have the highest demand of labour with 45,752 positions (52.70 percent), with the top three professions comprising sales (5,728 positions), general administration (1,420 positions) and accounting/finance (806 positions). Following Bangkok was Samut Prakarn with 6,770 positions, Chon Buri with 5,211 positions, Pathumthani with 3,860 positions and Samut Sakhon with 2,769 positions. In February 2017, the Department of Employment filled 23,617 positions which increased by 10.97 percent in March to 26,209. Coupled with this was the Social Security Office’s statistics which showed a decrease of applicants for unemployment benefits by 10.72 percent when comparing February 2017 with the same month in the previous year. In addition to this, the number of insurers also increased by 1.56 percent.
          The Center for Economic and Business Forecasting from the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce revealed indexes which showed consumer confidence in March 2017. The index of 76.8 was an increase from the 75.8 in February. March 2017 was the fourth consecutive month with an increasing trend, the highest which it has been in the past 24 months. Another index on employment opportunities in March 2017 also proved to be positive with an index of 71.4 from 70.3 in February.
          “The Ministry of Labour is determined to promote employment among the working population, where we have initiated efforts through the establishment of the Smart Job Center in 77 locations nationwide, the Job Coach Thailand Center, frequent employment activities nationwide, the launch of the Smart Job Application and other advisory services for professionals, household workers and freelancers; for more details, workers can contact the 1694 hotline. For those looking to improve \professional skills, the Department of Skills Development has countless curriculums at all Skill Development Centers nationwide, free of expenses. For more information, workers can visit the DSD website at www.dsd.go.th,” said the Ministry of Labour’s spokesperson.