BANGKOK, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's employment growth remained stable in the second quarter of 2025 compared to a year earlier, supported by a marginal expansion in the non-agricultural sector, official data showed on Monday.
The Southeast Asian country's labor force edged up 0.02 percent year-on-year to 39.5 million individuals in the April-June period, driven by a 0.4 percent increase in non-farm employment, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC).
The transportation and storage sector saw the largest growth at 7.9 percent, followed by the hotel and restaurant sector at 3.1 percent, and a recovery in the manufacturing sector, which grew by 0.5 percent, the NESDC said in a statement.
Meanwhile, employment in the agricultural sector continued to fall by 0.9 percent, easing from a 5 percent decline recorded in the second quarter of 2024, the state economic planning agency said.
The kingdom's unemployment rate stood at 0.91 percent, down from 1.07 percent registered in the same period last year and representing around 370,000 unemployed individuals, said NESDC Secretary-General Danucha Pichayanan.
Unemployment significantly decreased among vocational and advanced professional groups, while the number of unemployed individuals with higher education declined only slightly and continued to represent the group with the highest unemployment rate, Danucha told a news conference.
Looking ahead, the employment structure is expected to change, with large organizations increasingly favoring part-time and contractual roles instead of traditional full-time permanent positions, Danucha said.
This trend, fueled by ongoing economic uncertainty, could affect job security, income stability, and legal protections, underscoring the need for regulatory bodies to uphold labor law compliance, he noted. ■
