1
nemployment (1)
and underemployment
(2)
4.4
The
unemployment situation improved in the second
quarter. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, which has
been rising since the second quarter of 1982, started to fall(3). It stood at 4.4% in the second quarter, compared with 5.1% in the first quarter of 1983 and 3.2% in the second
quarter of 1982.
4.5
The underemployment situation also improved. In the
second quarter, the underemployment rate was 1.9%, which was
lower than the rate of 2.5% recorded for the first quarter of
this year.
/The
(1) According to the definition used for the General Household Survey, the unemployed population includes all persons aged 15 and over who, during the week prior to enumeration, had no work at all and were seeking work.
(2) Underemployment is defined with reference to hours worked. Employed persons who worked less than 35 hours during the week prior to enumeration are considered as underemployed if they were seeking more work, or if they were not seeking more work because they believed more work was not available.
(3)
The unemployment rate and the number of persons unemployed, based on the definitions used for the General Household Survey, are given below:
Quarter ending
Unemployment
rate*
Number of persons unemployed*
(*)
('000)
1981 Dec
3.1
78.1
4
1982
Mar
3.4
83.4
Jun
3.2
79.4
Sep
3.6
90.9
Dec
3.9
98.7
1983
Mar
5.1
127.3
Jun
4.4
110.0+
Notes: (*) Seasonally adjusted
(+) Provisional estimates
35