September’s unemployment rate stayed at 3.4% for the second consecutive month while the labour force participation rate improved slightly to 67.9%. We noticed the net jobs created in September almost doubled that of August to 30.9K. Those outside the labour force i.e. housewives, students (including those going for further studies), retirees, disabled persons and persons not looking for a job rose 0.5% y/y to 7.12K in September. This segment makes up 32.1% of the labour force.

As the economic outlook poised to stay strong in 2017 with a projected growth of 5.7% versus official estimates of 5.2% – 5.7%, we expect the labour market to stay healthy. We forecast the unemployment rate to stay around 3.3% – 3.4% by end-2017 from 3.5% in 2016. The healthy economy saw the net number of placed registrants standing at 267.7K for the first nine months of the year against -1,108K for the full year of 2016.

• The unemployment rate remained unchanged for the second consecutive month. September’s unemployment stood at 3.4%, the same as in August. Meanwhile, the labour force participation rate, which is the ratio of labour force to the working population (15-64 years old), improved marginally to 67.9% in September from 67.8% in August.

• The unemployment rate has been hovering between 3.4% and 3.5% since January 2017. In the case of the labour force participation rate, it has improved slightly from 67.7% in January 2017 to 67.9% in September.

• In the meantime, the net jobs created for the first nine months of the year totalled 267.6K, reflecting the improving overall health of the economy. In September, the net jobs created almost doubled to 30.9K from 19.0K in August.

• Finally, those outside the labour force i.e. housewives, students (including those going for further studies), retirees, disabled persons and people not looking for a job rose 0.5% y/y to 7.12K in September. This segment makes up 32.1% of the labour force.

• As the economic outlook poised to stay strong in 2017 with a projected growth of 5.7% versus official estimates of 5.2% – 5.7%, we expect the labour market to stay healthy. We forecast the unemployment rate to stay around 3.3% – 3.4% by end- 2017 from 3.5% in 2016. The healthy economy saw the net number of placed registrants standing at 267.7K for the first nine months of the year against -1,108K for the full year of 2016.

Source: AmInvest Research - 14 Nov 2017