Nearly 20% of Thai unemployed in Q1 those with higher education
Thailand’s unemployment rate in the first quarter of this year remained high at 410,000 people, especially those who had graduated with higher education, the National Statistical Office said on Thursday.
“Of the total, around 79,000 people had not been employed for more than a year,” said the office director, Piyanuch Wuttisorn.
She said most of the unemployed were those who had higher education, followed by those who graduated from high school and middle school.
Among the reasons behind the jobless rate, 59.25% of people said they became unemployed after they quit their job, followed by business closure (16.16%), expiry of employment contract (13.15%) and being laid off (5.47%), she said.
Piyanuch added that the number of employed workers dropped slightly from 40.2 million to 39.6 million quarter on quarter due to a decline in workers in the agriculture industry amid severe drought.
However, she said the number of non-farm workers had increased by 2.2% quarter on quarter, especially those in the hospitality and restaurant sectors, which showed the growth in Thailand’s tourism sector, she added.
She expects the unemployment numbers to go up in the next quarter, especially workers in the agriculture sector, due to drought.
