Thailand Labor Market Shows 0.94% Jobless Rate as 3.33 Million Face Quasi-Unemployment
Updated
Updated · Bangkok Post · Aug 9
Thailand Labor Market Shows 0.94% Jobless Rate as 3.33 Million Face Quasi-Unemployment
2 articles · Updated · Bangkok Post · Aug 9
Summary
397,000 Thais were unemployed in the first half of 2026, up 9.8% year on year, even as the headline unemployment rate edged only to 0.94%, according to SCB EIC.
3.33 million quasi-unemployed workers and a 400,000 rise in people working under 35 hours point to broader weakness, while average weekly hours slipped to 42.42 as firms cut overtime before layoffs.
16,300 baht average monthly pay fell 0.4% year on year, and the real wage index dropped to 96.8 in the second quarter—the lowest since the pandemic—eroding household purchasing power.
12.5% more business closures, higher energy costs and weak SME demand are adding cyclical strain to structural problems such as skills mismatches, aging demographics and limited spillovers from foreign investment.
85.9% household debt-to-GDP reflects what EIC called constraint-driven deleveraging, with debt still rising 0.5% and pawnshop lending jumping 18.3% as weaker incomes curb spending and formal borrowing.