This drop in the
(3),
4.5
participation rate slowed down the
growth rate of the supply of labour. While the total labour force grew by 1.7% during the six months ending September
1981, it decreased by about 1% during the six months ending
March 1982
the first decrease since September 1976.
With net immigration (the balance of total arrivals and
departures of legal immigrants plus an estimated number of
illegal immigrants) decreasing further to around 4 339 in the
first half of 1982 compared with 11 753 in the first half and
21 397 in the second half of 1981, the growth rate of the
supply of labour should be stabilizing.
4.6
The decline in the supply of labour was accompanied
by a decline in the demand for it, particularly by the
manufacturing sector. After an increase of 2.0% in the
employed labour force in the six months ending September 1981,
there was a small drop of 0.3% during the six months ending
March 1982.
/4.7 Although
(3) The total labour force and the number of persons employed (according
to the definitions of the labour force survey):
Rate of Increase/ (Decrease)
Number of
persons employed
Rate of Increase/ (Decrease) on previous
period
Labour force
on previous
period
1980
Mar
2 276 000
2 203 400
Sep
2 370 700
4.2
2 268 800
3.0
1981
Mar
2 456 300
3.6
2 355 600
3.8
Sep
2 498 500
1.7
2 402 000
2.0
Dec
2 477 600
(0.8)
2 400 200
(0.1)
1982 Mar 2 477 700
О
2 393 700
(0.3)
Starting from September 1981, the half-yearly labour force surveys have been replaced by a series of monthly general household surveys. The estimate for March 1981 was derived from the 1981 Population
Census.
30
01
1