UN
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1986
UNDER THE NEW DEFINITIONS, THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR FEBRUARY- APRIL 1986 WAS 3.2 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH THE RATES OF 3.0 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1986 AND 3.2 PER CENT FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR. THE INCREASE OF 0.2 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE PREVIOUS QUARTER IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGN IF ICANT.
THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER FEBRUARY- APRIL 1986 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 85 400, COMPARED WITH 80 800 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1986 AND 81 200 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR,
UNDER THE NEW DEFINITIONS, THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR FEBRUARY-APRIL 1986 WAS 2.2 PER CENT, WHICH COMPARES WITH THE RATE OF 2.5 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1986. THE RATE FOR FEBRUARY - APRIL 1985 WAS 1.3 PER CENT. THE DECREASE OF 0.3 PERCENTAGE POINT COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND THE INCREASE OF 0.9 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR ARE BOTH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT THAT IS, THE CHANGES ARE GREATER THAN MIGHT BE EXPECTED TO ARISE FROM SAMPLING ERROR. THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR THE QUARTER FEBRUARY-APRIL 1986 WAS 57 700, COMPARED WITH 67 100 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1986 AND 34 500 FOR FEBRUARY-APRIL 1985. CONSISTENT WITH THE LATEST RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE ILO, PERSONS WHO WORKED LESS THAN 35 HOURS A WEEK DUE TO ECONOMIC REASONS (SUCH AS SLACK WORK, MATERIAL SHORTAGE, MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN AND INABILITY TO FIND FULL-TIME WORK) WERE REGARDED AS UNDER- EMPLOYED ONLY IF THEY WERE EITHER SEEK ING OR AVAILABLE FOR MORE WORK.
THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS POINTED OUT THAT WHILE THE EFFECT OF THE MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION ON THE ESTIMATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT IS MARGINAL, ITS EFFECT ON THE ESTIMATE OF UNDEREMPLOYMENT IS QUITE CONSIDERABLE. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES UNDER THE OLD AND THE NEW DEFINITIONS IS MAINLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE FACT THAT PERSONS WORK ING LESS THAN 35 HOURS A WEEK FOR ECONOMIC REASONS WHO WERE NOT SEEKING MORE WORK BUT WERE AVAILABLE FOR ADDITIONAL WORK ARE REGARDED AS UNDEREMPLOYMENT UNDER THE NEW DEFINITIONS BUT NOT UNDER THE OLD DEFINITIONS.
COMMENTING UPON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS (FOR EXAMPLE, PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VAR IES FROM MONTH TO MONTH, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED FOR THE VARIATION IN THE FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.
/THE COMMISSIONER