Thailand's unemployment rate improved in the second quarter of this year, thanks to the growing economy.
The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) reported yesterday that the unemployment rate eased to 1.1% or 411,155 people in the second quarter from 1.2% or 464,973 people in the same period last year.
On a quarterly basis, the rate was down significantly from 1.24% or 474,000 people in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Thailand's workforce totalled 38.48 million, up 0.6% from 38.26 million in the same quarter last year.
Last year the unemployment rate was 1.2%, with the overall workforce totalling 38.1 million.
Thosaporn Sirisamphand, the NESDB's secretary-general, said economic growth led to more people finding employment.
In the second quarter, 37.88 million people were employed, up from 37.53 million in the same quarter of last year and 37.36 million people in the first quarter of this year.
The state planning unit reported on Aug 20 that Thailand's second-quarter GDP grew by 4.6% year-on-year, easing from the first quarter's revised reading of 4.9%, which was the highest in five years.
Nonetheless, the Q2 growth figure topped the results for the fourth quarter of 2017 and the whole of 2017, which were 4% and 3.9%, respectively.
The NESDB attributed the second-quarter growth to accelerated private consumption, along with external demand and continuous expansion of both private and public investment.
After seasonal adjustment, the economy in the second quarter expanded by 1% from the previous three months.
For the first half of 2018, the economy expanded by 4.8% year-on-year.
The NESDB raised its 2018 export growth forecast to 10% from 8.9% estimated in May, as it expects shipments to be underpinned by improvements in trade partners' economies.
Exports, one of the key drivers of the economy, were strong during April-June, up 12.3% year-on-year.
Mr Thosaporn said graduates with bachelor's degrees, particularly in the social sciences, still had the highest unemployment, making up 120,419 or 29.3% of the total.
"The ease in unemployment was largely due to economic growth driven by export expansions and recovering domestic consumption," Mr Thosaporn said. "Employment in the hotels and restaurants sector, in particular, rose by 5.7% in line with continuous growth in foreign tourist numbers."
But the agency warned that future labour issues could include risks from flooding that might affect farm incomes.
Severe flooding in some areas during July-August and the annual floods in September-October might affect agricultural areas and, in turn, farmers' livelihoods.
The government should implement any and all measures to prevent and mitigate flood impact in the second half of 2018, Mr Thosaporn said.
The unemployment problem for recent graduates persists, with 320,000 graduates with a bachelor's degree, or 64% of the new graduates, entering the labour market this quarter.
The total number of new graduates is estimated at 500,000 this year.
Mr Thosaporn said employment is expected to improve significantly in the latter half of 2018.