MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1986
MAY-JULY UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION IMPROVES
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THE UNEMPLOYMENT SITUATION REMAINED STABLE WHILE THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION IMPROVED IN THE QUARTER MAY-JULY 1986, COMPARED WITH THE QUARTER ENDING APRIL 1986, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY (MONDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR MAY-JULY 1986 WAS 2.9 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH THE RATE OF 3.2 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING APRIL 1986 AND 2.9 PER CENT FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR, THE DECREASE OF 0.3 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE PREVIOUS QUARTER IS NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER MAY-JULY 1986 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 79 900, COMPARED WITH 85 400 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING APRIL 1986 AND 78 300 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR.
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR MAY-JULY 1986 WAS 1.7 PER CENT, WHICH COMPARES WITH THE RATE OF 2.2 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING APRIL 1986. THE RATE FOR MAY-JULY 1985 WAS 1.8 PER CENT.
WHILE THE DECREASE OF 0.5 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE PREVIOUS QUARTER IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT, THE DECREASE OF 0.1 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR IS NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR THE QUARTER MAY-JULY 1986 WAS 45 700, COMPARED WITH 57 700 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING APRIL 1986 AND 47 600 FOR MAY-JULY 1985.
CONSISTENT WITH THE LATEST RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (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 UNDEREMPLOYED ONLY IF THEY WERE EITHER SEEKING OR AVAILABLE FOR MORE WORK.
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) VARIES FROM MONTH TO MONTH, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED TO TAKE ACCOUNT OF THE VARIATIONS IN THE FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.
THE COMMISSIONER 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 THREE-MONTH PERIOD COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER THE SURVEY.
THESE PROVIDE