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SEPTEMBER 1978 LABOUR FORCE SURVEY
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A SAMPLE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY CONDUCTED IN SEPTEMBER BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT INDICATED 55,600 UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE IN HONG KONG AT THAT TIME.
THIS NUMBER REPRESENTED 2.7 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL LABOUR FORCE.
THESE FIGURES CAN BE COMPARED WITH THOSE OF 80,000 OR 4.1 PER CENT IN SEPTEMBER 1977 AND 60,000 OR 3 PER CENT IN MARCH 1978.
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS, MR. C.C. GREENFIELD SAID TODAY (THURSDAY) THE UNEMPLOY- MENT RATE HAD DECREASED OVER THE PAST SIX MONTHS.
ALTHOUGH THE REDUCTION IN THE RATE WAS ONLY 0.3 PER CENT (OR IN ABSOLUTE TERMS, A REDUCTION OF 4,400 IN THE NUMBER WHO WERE UNEMPLOYED), THE ACTUAL DECLINE IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE WOULD BE MORE IF CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS, USUALLY SUBSTANTIALLY HIGHER IN SEPTEMBER THAN IN MARCH, WAS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.
THE NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS ESTIMATED IN THE MARCH 1978 SURVEY WAS 7,100 COMPARED WITH 13,100 IN THE SEPTEMBER 1978 SURVEY (AN INCREASE OF 6,000 'PEOPLE).
+ IF THE SEPTEMBER 1978 RATE IS ADJUSTED FOR THIS SEASONAL EFFECT TO PUT IT ON THE SAME BASIS AS THE MARCH 1978 RATE, IT BECOMES 2.4 PER CENT. THE CORRECTED DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS FIGURE AND THAT FOR MARCH 1978 IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT,+ MR. GREENFIELD SAID.
THE COMMISSIONER EXPLAINED THAT, FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE SURVEY, PEOPLE AGED BETWEEN 14 - 64 AND NOT IN EMPLOYMENT OR WHO HAD WORKED FOR LESS THAN 15 HOURS IN THE SEVEN DAYS BEFORE THE SURVEY DATE BUT WERE LOOKING FOR WORK, WERE CLASSIFIED AS UNEMPLOYED.
HE ALSO DREW ATTENTION TO THE VARIOUS DEFINITIONS OF UNEMPLOY- MENT USED BY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.
IN HONG KONG +UNEMPLOYED+ INCLUDED PEOPLE:
* WHO HAD JUST LEFT SCHOOL AND WHO REALLY HAD NOT HAD MUCH
CHANCE TO FIND A JOB-
* WHO HAD JUST, BUT ONLY JUST, TAKEN UP WORK-
* WHO HAD TEMPORARILY BEEN LAID OFF WORK (WORKING LESS THAN
15 HOURS IN THE LAST SEVEN DAYS) =
* WHO WERE AVAILABLE FOR WORK, BUT WERE NOT ACTUALLY LOOK ING FOR WORK BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS NONE TO BE HAD OR BECAUSE THEY WERE TEMPORARILY SICK.
MR. GREENFIELD SAID A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE SURVEY WAS NOW AVAILABLE AND COPIES COULD BE OBTAINED ON REQUEST FROM THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
HE ADDED THAT SIMILAR INFORMATION ON UNEMPLOYMENT IS SOUGHT AT REGULAR SIX-MONTHLY INTERVALS. THE NEXT LABOUR FORCE SURVEY WOULD BE HELD IN MARCH NEXT YEAR.
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