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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1986
UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS RELEASED
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THE UNEMPLOYMENT SITUATION REMAINED STABLE WHILE THE
UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION IMPROVED IN THE JUNE-AUGUST 1986 QUARTER, COMPARED WITH THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1986, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY (WEDNESDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JUNE-AUGUST 1986 WAS 3.0 PER CENT, WHICH WAS THE SAME AS THAT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1986. THE RATE FOR JUNE-AUGUST 1985 WAS 3.2 PER CENT. HE DECREASE OF 0.2 PERCENTAGE POINT COMPARED WITH THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT.
THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER JUNE-AUGUST 1986 WAS ESTIMATED AT 81 700, COMPARED WITH 80 300 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1986 AND 85 600 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR.
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JUNE-AUGUST 1986 WAS 1.5 PER CENT, WHICH COMPARES WITH THE RATE OF 2.4 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1986. THE RATE FOR JUNE-AUGUST 1985 WAS 2.0 PER CENT. THE DECREASES OF 0.9 PERCENTAGE POINT COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND OF 0.5 PERCENTAGE POINT COMPARED WITH THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR ARE BOTH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR THE QUARTER JUNE-AUGUST 1986 WAS 39 900, COMPARED WITH 64 200 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1986 AND 53 400 FOR JUNE-AUGUST 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 IRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS (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 AN EARLY INDICATION OF THE LATEST TREND IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION.
THE PROVISIONAL
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