BANGKOK — Employment in Thailand dropped 0.4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier due to lower farm jobs, after a 0.1 percent year-on-year dip in the previous quarter, the state planning agency said on Monday.

Agricultural employment dropped 5 percent in the second quarter year on year, while non-farm jobs rose 1.5 percent on the year, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) said in a statement.

Jobs in the hotel and restaurant sector were up 4.9 percent year on year in the April-June quarter while manufacturing employment increased 2.2 percent, the agency said.

The jobless rate rose to 1.07 percent in the April-June quarter from 1.01 percent in the previous three months, NESDC head Danucha Pichayanan told a press briefing, citing the closure of smaller businesses as a factor.

Thailand's definition of unemployment is narrow and only counts as jobless those who do not work a single hour in a surveyed week, however. Analysts say the figures do not catch Thailand's significant unofficial economy.

In the second quarter, Thailand had a total workforce of 40.18 million, little changed from 40.2 million in the previous three months.

Southeast Asia's second-largest economy grew 2.3 percent in the April-June quarter of the year, beating expectations.

The planning agency forecast growth of 2.5 percent this year, after last year's 1.9 percent expansion, which lagged regional peers.

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