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Thailand’s Unemployment Rate Hits 3-Year Low of 1.05% in Q1 2023 as tourism rebounds
(CTN News) – During the first quarter of 2019, the unemployment rate in Thailand fell to 1.05% from 1.15% in the fourth quarter of 2022, as reported by the state planning department on Monday. The resurgence of the crucial tourism industry is being credited with the uptick.
Employment in Thailand Increases by 2.4% in Q1 2023
The tourism industry is helping to boost the country’s economy, which is the second largest in Southeast Asia, at a higher rate than economists had predicted in the first quarter. This sector, vital to generating new jobs, was hit hard by the pandemic.
According to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), the employment rate increased by 2.4% from January to March compared to the same time a year ago, an acceleration from the 1.5% gain seen in the prior three months.
Thailand’s Narrow Definition of Unemployment Raises Concerns
The unemployment rate in the first quarter, at 1.03%, was the lowest it had been since the first quarter of 2020 before the full consequences of the epidemic hit the economy. This quarter, 420,000 people were without work.
However, it should be noted that Thailand has a very restricted definition of unemployment, counting only those who did not work at all during the week of the poll as unemployed. However, experts believe that this fails to consider the significant shadow economy in the country.
The planning agency estimated that 39.6 million people worked in Thailand in Q1 2023.
