MACAO - The number of paid employees of Macao's hotel and restaurant sector reached 63,204 at the end of the first quarter of 2012, up 17.2 percent year-on-year, according to a survey results released Friday by Macao's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The survey showed that the average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees of the hotel and restaurant sector rose by 4.4 percent year-on-year to 11,170 patacas ($1,397) in March 2012, with waiters of hotels and those of restaurants earned an average of 7,790 patacas and 6,480 patacas, respectively.

At the end of March 2012, the hotel and restaurant sector reported 7,425 vacancies. The hotel sector reported 2,457 vacancies, down significantly by 53.2 percent year-on-year, and the restaurant sector had 3,362 vacancies, the DSEC said.

The survey showed that the number of paid employees in the manufacturing sector fell 10.4 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter of this year.

In terms of recruitment prerequisites, more than 50 percent of the vacancies in the insurance sector and hotel and restaurant sector required working experience.

Meanwhile, the sector also reported a high level of employee turnover in the period, with the employee turnover rate stood at 7.5 percent, according to the DSEC survey.