SUNDAY, JULY 14, 198
LATEST LABOUR FORCE FIGURES RELEASED
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THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION REMAINED STABLE IN THE QUARTER MARCH-MAY 1985 WHEN COMPARED WITH THE QUARTER ENDING FEBRUARY 1985, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR MARCH-MAY 1985 WAS 3.2 PER CENT, AS COMPARED WITH THE RATE OF 3.1 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING FEBRUARY 1985. THE RATE FOR MARCH-MAY 1984 WAS 3.8 PER CENT.
WHILE THE INCREASE OF 0.1 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE PREVIOUS QUARTER IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT, THE DECREASE OF 0.6 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE YEAR IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IT IS GREATER THAN MIGHT BE EXPECTED TO ARISE FROM SAMPLING ERROR.
THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1985 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 83 700, AS COMPARED WITH 82 100 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING FEBRUARY 1985 AND 98 300 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF 1984.
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR MARCH-MAY 1985 WAS ONE PER CENT, AS COMPARED WITH THE RATE OF 1.2 PER CENT FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER. THE RATE FOR MARCH-MAY 1984 WAS 0.9 PER CENT.
THE CHANGES IN THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE OVER THE RESPECTIVE QUARTERS ARE STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT. THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1985 WAS 26 700, AS COMPARED WITH 31 800 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING FEBRUARY 1985 AND 24 300 FOR MARCH-MAY 1984,
CONSISTENT WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO), 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.
COMMENTING UPON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB SEEKERS (THAT IS PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIES FROM MONTH TO MONTH, THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATES WHICH HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED FOR THE VARIATION IN FIRST-TIME JOB SEEKERS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.
THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS ADDED THAT BASED ON A SYSTEM OF MANUAL EXTRACTION OF INFORMATION FROM SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES FOR THE LATEST MONTH, PROVISIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES COVERING THE LATEST MOVING THREE-MONTH PERIOD COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER THE SURVEY.
/THESE PROVIDE