BANGKOK- Employment in Thailand dropped 0.4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier due to lower farm jobs, after a 0.1 percent year-on-year dip in the previous quarter, the state planning agency said on Monday.
Agricultural employment dropped 5 percent in the second quarter year-on-year, while non-farm jobs rose 1.5 percent 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 percent year-on-year in the April-June quarter while manufacturing employment increased 2.2 percent , the agency said.
The jobless rate rose to 1.07 percent in the April-June quarter from 1.01 percent 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.
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy grew 2.3 percent in the April-June quarter on the year, beating expectations.
The planning agency forecast growth of 2.5 percent this year, after last year’s 1.9 percent expansion, which lagged regional peers.
Thailand’s economic expansion accelerated in the second quarter due to stronger consumption, tourism and exports, but analysts said policy uncertainty following a change in government clouds the outlook.
Gross domestic product grew 2.3 percent in the April-June quarter from a year earlier, National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) data showed, versus an upwardly revised 1.6 percent in the first quarter and beating 2.1 percent forecast in a Reuters poll.
Growth was driven by improved government consumption, export of goods and services as well as private consumption, while public and private investments contracted, the state planning agency NESDC said in a statement.
