THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1985
13
JOBLESS RATE SHOWS SLIGHT DETERIORATION
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THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION SHOWED A SLIGHT DETERIORATION IN THE QUARTER JULY-SEPTEMBER 1985 COMPARED WITH THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1985, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JULY-SEPTEMBER 1985 WAS 3.4 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH THE RATE OF 3.0 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1985. THE RATE FOR JULY-SEPTEMBER 1984 WAS 3.5 PER CENT.
THE INCREASE OF 0.4 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE PREVIOUS QUARTER IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT, THAT IS, IT IS GREATER THAN MIGHT BE EXPECTED TO ARISE FROM SAMPLING ERROR, WHILE THE DECREASE OF 0.1 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT.
THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER ENDING SEPTEMBER 1985 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 89 600, COMPARED WITH 78 500 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1985 AND 92 400 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF 1984.
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JULY-SEPTEMBER 1985 WAS 1.3 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH THE RATE OF 1.0 PER CENT FOR BOTH THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR. THE INCREASES OF 0.3 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE TWO RESPECTIVE QUARTERS ARE BOTH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR THE QUARTER END ING SEPTEMBER 1985 WAS 35 600 COMPARED WITH 27 700 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1985 AND 25 600 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF 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 (E.G. 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-MONT¬ PER 1OD COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER THE SURVEY.
/THESE PROVIDE