2
Employment
THE general employment pattern in the 1966 by-census showed that about 47 per cent of the working population was engaged in con- struction, manufacturing, mining, quarrying and the utilities, about 24 per cent in various services, 17 per cent in commerce, seven per cent in communications and five per cent in agriculture, forestry and fishing. Based on this pattern, the estimated employment figures at the end of 1969 were: manufacturing 599,780, services 366,970, commerce 253,830, construction 93,840, agriculture, forestry and fishing 79,470, communications 104,190, public utilities 14,870, mining and quarrying 4,570. There were also some 5,830 in other work, making an estimated total of 1,523,350 employed.
In 1969 the Labour Department had on record 14,754 factories and according to voluntary returns made to the Department these employed a total of 561,563 workers, an increase of 54,810 compared with the 1968 figures. Those engaged in weaving, spinning, knitting, and the manufacture of garments and made-up textile goods accounted for a total of 227,857 and remained the largest section of this labour force. The plastics industry, which also employs a large number of out-workers, remained the second largest employer. The demand for labour in manufacturing industries continued to exceed the supply. Fuller details of the distribution of industrial undertakings and of persons employed in them are given in Appendix III.
The bulk of the industrial population is concentrated in the urban areas of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Kowloon but there is increasing industrial development in the New Terri- tories, particularly in the new township of Tsuen Wan. In December 1969 the Labour Department had on record 1,319 factories in the New Territories, with a labour force of 81,122. Although most workers are engaged in modern manufacturing processes and a small amount of mining and quarrying, traditional village industries still provide employment.