TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1987
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR AUGUST - OCTOBER 1987 WAS 1 PER CENT, WHICH WAS THE SAME AS THAT FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JULY 1987. THE RATE FOR AUGUST
1986 OCTOBER
WAS 1.3 PER CENT. THE DECREASE OF 0.3 PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE SAME PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
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THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR AUGUST OCTOBER 1987 WAS 28,100, COMPARED WITH 28,600 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JULY 1987 AND 35,400 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING OCTOBER 1986.
THE
CONSISTENT WITH THE CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS OF 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.
CENSUS AND JOB-SEEKERS
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME (E.G. 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.
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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.
FOR
THE PROVISIONAL SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE SEPTEMBER · NOVEMBER 1987 WAS 1.9 PER CENT AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 1.1 PER CENT.
THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS WERE OBTAINED FROM A CONTINUOUS GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT. THIS SURVEY COVERS A QUARTERLY SAMPLE OF
SCIENTIFICALLY SOME 14,000 HOUSEHOLDS OR 50,000 PERSONS, SELECTED REPRESENT THE LAND-BASED CIVILIAN NON-INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION HONG KONG,
PERSONAL AND LABOUR FORCE DATA WERE OBTAINED IN THE SURVEY INTERVIEWING EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER AGED 15 AND ABOVE IN HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED.
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BY
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IN THE SURVEY, THE DEFINITIONS USED IN MEASURING UMEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT FOLLOW CLOSELY THOSE RECOMMENDED BY THE ILO.
DETAILED ANALYSIS OF LABOUR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS IS GIVEN IN THE REPORT ON THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY WHICH IS PUBLISHED FOUR TIMES A YEAR. THE NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER ENDING SEPTEMBER 1987 SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE AROUND DECEMBER 20, 1987 AT $9.50 PER COPY.
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