The median monthly employment earnings of the employed population in Macao amounted to 8,500 patacas (1,076 US dollars) in the third quarter of this year, the same level as that of the second quarter, according to the figures released Thursday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The figures showed that the median monthly employment earnings of the employed residents held stable as the previous quarter in the period, at 10,000 patacas.

Total labor force in Macao stood at 328,000 in the third quarter, with 316,000 being employed. Analyzed by industry, the majority of the employed were engaging in recreational, cultural, gaming and other services (23.2 percent) and hotels, restaurants and similar activities (14.1 percent).

Meanwhile, the unemployed population was 12,000 in the period, of which 82.4 percent were searching for a new job, while 17.6 percent were fresh labor force entrants searching for their first job. With regard to the educational attainment, 34.6 percent of the unemployed had primary education or lower, 29 percent had junior secondary education and 19.8 percent had senior secondary education, according to the DSEC.