Thailand's jobless rate was at 1.1% in the second quarter, little changed from 1.05% in the previous quarter, with employment rising as the economy recovered, a government official said on Tuesday.

Southeast Asia's second-largest economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, driven by strength in tourism, a key source of jobs that was decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Employment rose 1.7% in April-June from a year earlier, with 39.7 million employed, government spokesperson Trisuree Trisoranakul said in a statement.

The pace, however, slowed from a 2.4% on-year rise in the first quarter, when the jobless rate was the lowest since early 2020, before the economy felt the full impact of the pandemic.

"Overall labour situation indicators have improved with no worrying signs," Trisuree said.

Thailand's definition of unemployment is narrow, however, and only counts as jobless those who do not work a single hour in a surveyed week. Analysts say the figures do not catch Thailand's significant unofficial economy. (Reporting by Satawasin Staporncharnchai; editing by Robert Birsel)