I
SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 1986
THE NUMBER OF THE UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1986 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 83 800, COMPARED WITH
88 500 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER 1985 AND 90 600 FOR THE SAME QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1985.
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR NOVEMBER 1985-JANUARY 1986 WAS 1.2 PER CENT, THE SAME AS THAT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER 1985. THE RATE FOR NOVEMBER 1984-JANUARY 1985 WAS ONE PER CENT. THE INCREASE OF 0.2 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THAT QUARTER WAS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT.
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1986 WAS 32 000, COMPARED WITH 31 900 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER 1985 AND 27 100 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1985.
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 SPOKESMAN 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.
HE 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 AN EARLY INDICATION OF THE LATEST TREND IN
THE PROVISIONAL THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED) FOR DECEMBER 1985- FEBRUARY 1986 WAS 3.1 PER CENT, AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 1.1 PER CENT. THE UNADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR NOVEMBER 1985–JANUARY 1986 WAS 3.2 PER CENT.
THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS WERE OBTAINED FROM A CONTINUOUS GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY (GHS) CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THIS SURVEY COVERS A QUARTERLY SAMPLE OF SOME 14 000 HOUSEHOLDS OR 52 000 PERSONS, SELECTED SCIENTIFICALLY TO REPRESENT THE LAND-BASED CIVILIAN NON-INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION IN HONG KONG.
/PERSONAL AND