A
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1988
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 THRY WERE EITHER SEEKING OR AVAILABLE FOR MORE WORK.
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS (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.
THE COMMISSIONER ADDED THAT, BASED ON A BYSTEM OF PROVISIONAL COUNTS, THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES COVERING THE LATEST THREE MONTHS 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 SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER 1988 WAS 1.3 PER CENT AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 0.6 PER CENT.
J
THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT FROM A CONTINUOUS GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
STATISTICS CONDUCTED
WERE OBTAINED BY THE CENSUS
THIS SURVEY COVERS A QUARTERLY SAMPLE OF SOME 14,000 HOUSEHOLDS OR 50,000 PERSONS, SELECTED SCIENTIFICALLY ΤΟ REPRESENT THE LAND-BASED CIVILIAN NON-INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION IN HONG KONG.
PERSONAL AND LABOUR FORCE DATA WERE OBTAINED IN THE SURVEY BY INTERVIEWING EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER AGED 15 AND ABOVE IN THE HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED.
IN THE SURVEY, THE DEFINITIONS USED IN MEASURING UNEMPLOYMENT 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 ᎢᎦ PUBLISHED FOUR TIMES A YEAR.
1988
SPO
$10
PER
THE NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER ENDING SEPTEMBER SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, BUILDING, CONNAUGHT PLACE, CENTRAL, AROUND DECEMBER 20 AT COPY.
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