MACAO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Macao's unemployment rate for the third quarter of 2008 stood at 3.1 percent, which remained unchanged over the same period of last year, according to the latest results of the Employment Survey Tuesday released by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

    In the third quarter, Macao's total labor force reached 337,400, with labor force participation rate standing at 70.7 percent, up by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year, according to the survey results.

    The unemployed population was 10,500, with 24.6 percent of the total searching for their first job, during the period of July to September. In addition, the unemployment rate of local residents (excluding non-resident workers) stood at four percent for the third quarter, and the respective labor force participation rate was 64 percent.