Thailand’s unemployment rate drops below 1% for first time in 4 years
Thailand’s unemployment rate at the end of February dropped below 1% for the first time in four years, which is a sign that the economy is improving, the government said.
Trisulee Trisaranakul, a deputy government spokesperson, on Sunday cited the National Statistical Office (NSO)’s report showing that the rate of unemployment at the end of February stood at 0.9%, compared to 1% at the end of last year.
She said this is the first time in almost four years that NSO’s survey has seen the unemployment rate drop to below 1%. The last time was in October 2019, when Thailand was enjoying normal growth and a strong tourism sector before it was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
The NSO report shows that 40.49 million of the 58.81 million Thais above the age of 15 have entered the workforce. The remaining 18.32 million that are not in the workforce include students, housewives and the disabled.
The NSO also noted that the number of employed people rose from 39.81 million at the end of 2022 to 39.91 million by the end of February. Of the 40.49 million people in the workforce, 360,000 or 0.9% were unemployed, down from 390,00 or 1% at the end of last year.
The NSO said the remaining 220,000 could not be classified as unemployed because they are seasonal workers.
Trisulee also noted that the government aims to boost employment and bring it to pre-Covid levels, adding that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had devised policies to achieve the goal.
