ليا
3
SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1987
THE DECREASES OF 0.6 PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND OF 1.0 PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE SAME QUARTER A YEAR AGO ARE BOTH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER NOVEMBER 1986-JANUARY 1987 WAS ESTIMATED AT 54 600, LESS THAN THE FIGURE OF 70 700 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER 1986 AND OF 80 800 FOR FOR THE SAME QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1986.
A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT 2.0 PER CENT IS THE LOWEST UNEMPLOYMENT RATE RECORDED SINCE THE NEW SERIES OF UNEMPLOYMENT STATISTICS WAS INTRODUCED IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1985. WITH THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT SUCH A LOW LEVEL, THE LABOUR FORCE AS A WHOLE WAS EFFECTIVELY FULLY EMPLOYED.
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR NOVEMBER 1986-JANUARY 1987 WAS 1.2 PER CENT, WHICH COMPARES WITH 1.3 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER 1986. THE RATE FOR NOVEMBER 1985-JANUARY 1996 WAS 2.5 PER CENT.
THE DECREASE OF 0.1 PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE PREVIOUS QUARTER IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT, WHILE THE DECREASE OF 1.3 PERCENTAGE POINTS BELOW THE SAME QUARTER ONE YEAR PREVIOUSLY IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR NOVEMBER 1986-JANUARY 1987 WAS 31 700, LESS THAN THE FIGURE OF 35 400 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER 1986 AND OF 67 100 FOR NOVEMBER 1985-JANUARY 1986.
CONSISTENT WITH THE CURRENT 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 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.
/THEST PROVIDE