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TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1983
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 2.4 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING APRIL 1983, WHICH IS THE SAME AS THAT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1983.
THE PROVISIONAL ESTIMATE OF THE NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS WAS 61 000 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING APRIL 1983, AS COMPARED WITH 58 600 FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER.
CONSISTENT WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION, PERSONS WHO WORKED LESS THAN 35 HOURS A WEEK WERE REGARDED AS UNDEREMPLOYED ONLY IF THEY WERE SEEKING MORE WORK OR WERE NOT SEEKING MORE WORK BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED MORE WORK WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
IN COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT BECAUSE CHANGES IN UNEMPLOYMENT TEND TO LAG BEHIND CHANGES IN THE ECONOMY, THE INCREASES IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES IN THE QUARTER FEBRUARY APRIL 1983 DID NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE CURRENT UNDERLYING ECONOMIC SITUATION.
+ INDEED, GIVEN THE INDICATIONS OF FURTHER REVIVAL IN EXPORT PERFORMANCE AND IN MANUFACTURING ACTIVITY GENERALLY, THE UNDERLYING ECONOMIC SITUATION IS ALREADY IMPROVING BUT THE IMPROVEMENT HAS NOT YET BEEN SUFFICIENT TO RESULT IN A FALL IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT OR UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES,+ HE SAID.
THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS WERE OBTAINED FROM A CONTINUOUS GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, THIS SURVEY COVERS A QUARTERLY SAMPLE OF SOME 15 000 HOUSEHOLDS OR 55 000 PERSONS, SELECTED SCIENTIFICALLY TO REPRESENT THE LAND-BASED CIVILIAN NON- INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION IN HONG KONG, PERSONAL AND LABOUR FORCE DATA WERE OBTAINED IN THE SURVEY BY INTERVIEWING EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER IN THE HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED. BECAUSE THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY IS BASED ON A SAMPLE AND NOT THE WHOLE POPULATION, ITS RESULTS ARE SUBJECT TO SAMPLING ERROR.
THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS (E.G. PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIED FROM MONTH TO MONTH, THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATES SEASONALLY ADJUSTED FOR THE VARIATIONS IN FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME. THE UNADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR THE QUARTER ENDING APRIL 1983 WAS 5.1 PER CENT.
HE ADDED THAT DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE LABOUR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS IS GIVEN IN THE REPORT OF THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY WHICH IS PUBLISHED FOUR TIMES A YEAR. THE NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER ENDING MARCH 1983 SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE LATER THIS MONTH.
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