Thailand’s employment drop accelerates in Q2

BANGKOK, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) — Thailand’s employment dropped 0.4 percent in the second quarter of 2024 from a year earlier, accelerating from a 0.1 percent dip in the previous quarter due to a decline in agricultural jobs, the country’s economic planning agency said on Monday.
The Southeast Asian country’s labor force shrank to 39.5 million individuals in the April-June period as employment in the agricultural sector fell 5 percent year-on-year, despite an expansion in the non-farm sectors by 1.5 percent, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC).
Employment in the hotel and restaurant sector continued to grow at 4.9 percent in the second quarter compared to a year earlier, driven by the tourism boom during the traditional Thai New Year festival, while manufacturing jobs increased by 2.2 percent owing to the upsurge in exports, the NESDC said in a statement.
The kingdom’s unemployment rate was registered at 1.07 percent in the second quarter, edging up from 1.01 percent in the previous three months, the agency said.
Employment prospects are anticipated to improve in line with the Thai economy’s recovery, which saw 2.3 percent growth in the second quarter of this year, NESDC Secretary-General Danucha Pichayanan told a news conference. ■