Thailand’s employment expanding

BANGKOK, August 1 (TNA) - The Ministry of Labour says that Thailand’s employment rates have kept expanding since April 2012, reflecting that the ongoing eurozone debt crisis has not posed any serious impact on the Thai labour market, with controllable goods prices and inflation. Permanent Secretary for Labour Somkiat Chayasriwong told reporters Wednesday, after chairing a meeting of the government's Central Wage Committee to follow up the country’s updated employment situation, that the expanding domestic employment rates have also reflected local business operators’ confidence in the Thai economy. According to the senior official, Thailand's employment rates have been expanding, from 0.6 per cent in April to 1.33 per cent in May and to 1.9 per cent in June, despite the persistent eurozone debt crisis and a daily minimum wage increase. The senior Thai labour official noted that his ministry will keep monitoring the employment situation in the country closely, and that the local employment sector has embraced any negative impact slower than the export and manufacturing sectors. Meanwhile, the Central Wage Committee is, meanwhile, gathering data on impacts from the Thai government's 300-baht daily minimum wage policy on the domestic employment situation and will likely publicly report results of the official assessment by October 2012. Currently, the 300-baht daily minimum wage is effective in Bangkok and other six Thai provinces, before expanding to cover all other provinces next year. (TNA)