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MACAU BOOMING

22.9 percent increase in employment last year

The 538 000 strong resident population of the gambling island Macau, just of the coast of China, is experiencing definite improvements in employment prospects as the island's 29 casinos continue to pull in business and expand, reports Xinhua.

A survey result released this week showed that at the end of last (2007) year, there were 44 743 paid employees engaged in Macao's gaming industry, an increase of 22.9 percent year-on-year.

Among the employees, 30 486 were engaged in positions that are directly related to betting services, such as hard and soft count clerks, casino floor persons, dealers, while 5 341 were working as casino and slot machine attendants or hosts, security and surveillance workers, according to the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages of the Gaming Industry, which was released by Macao's Statistics and Census Services (DSEC).

Gaming revenues in 2007 amounted to over 83 billion patacas (around US$ 10.3 billion).

Average monthly earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees in the local gaming industry rose by 6.6 percent year-on-year to 14 899 patacas (US$ 1 862).

At the end of December 2007, Macao's gaming industry reported 3 411 vacant posts, a decrease of 2 220 from the same period of the previous year, according to the DSEC survey result.