TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1976
EMPLOYMENT SITUATION • IMPROVEMENT INDICATED ******
ACCORDING TO A SAMPLE SURVEY CONDUCTED IN SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, THERE WERE AT THAT TIME 177,000 UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN HONG KONG,
FORCE.
THIS NUMBER REPRESENTED 9,1 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL LABOUR
IN ANNOUNCING THESE FIGURES. THE CONNISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS EXPLAINED THAT DEFINITIONS OF THE WORDS +UNEMPLOYED+ AND +LABOUR FORCE+ VARIED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. THE MAIN FOCUS OF THE DEFINITION USED IN THE RECENT SURVEY WAS THAT ANYONE WAS UNEMPLOYED IF HE WAS AGED BETWEEN 14-64 AND WAS NOT IN EMPLOYMENT BUT WAS LOOKING FOR WORK. ANYBODY WHO HAD WORKED FOR MORE THAN 15 HOURS IN THE SEVEN DAYS PRIOR TO THE SURVEY DATE WAS TAKEN TO DE EMPLOYED.
THE COMMISSIONER EMPHASISED THE DIFFICULTY OF DETERMINING ANY COMMONLY ACCEPTED DEFINITION OF TERMS IN THIS FIELD. FOR EXAMPLE, THE FIGURE GIVEN INCLUDES PEOPLE WHO MAD JUST LEFT SCHOOL AND WHO REALLY HAD NOT HAD MUCH OF A CHANCE TO PICK UP A JOB-- IT INCLUDES PEOPLE WHO HAD JUST. BUT ONLY JUST. TAKEN UP WORK- IT INCLUDES PEOPLE WHO HAD TEMPORARILY, BUT ONLY TEMPORARILY, BEEN LAID OFF WORK- AND ALSO INCLUDES PEOPLE WHO WERE AVAILABLE FOR WORK, BUT WHO WERE NOT ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR WORK BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS NONE TO BE HAD. ON THE OTHER HAND, AMONGST THE EMPLOYED WERE INCLUDED SUCH PEOPLE AS HAWKERS AND UNPAID FAMILY WORKERS WHO, IF OTHER JOBS WERE AVAILABLE, WOULD BE IN THEM.
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES. A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN EMPHASISED THAT THEY RELATED TO A PERIOD SOME FOUR MONTHS AGO AND EXPRESSED THE VIEW THAT AT THE PRESENT TIME THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY IS BETTER THAN IN SEPTEMBER. HE POINTED TO THE VERY ENCOURAGING TRADE FIGURES FOR THE LAST QUARTER OF 1975. FIGURES ALSO SEEMED TO INDICATE IMPROVEMENT.
EMPLOYMENT
ACCORDING TO THE LATEST EMPLOYMENT SURVEY CONDUCTED IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1975 BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, A TOTAL OF 678,857 PERSONS WERE ENGAGED IN MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS AS AT DECEMBER 4. 1975. THIS REPRESENTED AN INCREASE OF 51,226 PERSONS OR 8,2 PER CENT WHEN COMPARED WITH THE FIGURE OF 627,631 FOR SEPTEMBER 1975.
AT THE INDUSTRY SECTOR LEVEL. MAIN INCREASES WERE RECORDED IN GARMENTS (+25,328), ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS (+5,611), COTTON WEAVING (+2,567), MISCELLANEOUS FABRICATED METAL PRODUCTS (+1,596) AND MISCELLANEOUS PLASTIC PRODUCTS (+1,519). DECREASES IN EMPLOYMENT WERE RECORDED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLOVES (-819), SHIPBUILDING AND REPAIRING (-729) AND PLASTIC FLOWERS (-423).
+
/IN TERMS OF