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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 1987
UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS RELEASED
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THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION IMPROVED IN THE QUARTER SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER 1986, COMPARED WITH THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST 1986, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER 1986 WAS 2.4 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH THE RATES OF 3.0 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST 1986 AND 3.3 PER CENT FOR THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR.
THE DECREASES OF 0.6 PERCENTAGE POINT COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND OF 0.9 PERCENTAGE POINT COMPARED WITH THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR ARE BOTH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE PERIOD SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER 1986 WAS ESTIMATED AT 65 100, LESS THAN THE FIGURE OF 81 700 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST 1986 AND 86 400 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR.
A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT AN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AS LOW AS THIS REPRESENTED VIRTUALLY FULL EMPLOYMENT IN THE HONG KONG CONTEXT.
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 1986 WAS 1.2 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH THE RATE OF 1.5 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST 1986. THE RATE FOR SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 1985 WAS 2.3 PER CENT.
THE DECREASES OF 0.3 PERCENTAGE POINT COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND OF 1.1 PERCENTAGE POINTS COMPARED WITH THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR ARE BOTH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR SEPTEMBER- NOVEMBER 1986 AT 33 100, WAS AGAIN LESS THAN THE FIGURE OF 39 900 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST 1986 AND 59 600 FOR SEPTEMBER- NOVEMBER 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 (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 NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.
THE COMMISSIONER