FRIDAY, JULY 14, 1989
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR MARCH
THREE MONTHS 1989 WAS 25,800, COMPARED WITH 17,200 FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 AND 22,600 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING MAY 1988.
CONSISTENT
WITH
THE
CURRENT
MAY
ENDING
THE THAN
MATERIAL WORK)
OF RECOMMENDATIONS INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO), PERSONS WHO WORKED LESS 35 HOURS A WEEK DUE TO ECONOMIC REASONS (SUCH AS SLACK WORK, SHORTAGE, MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN AND INABILITY TO FIND FULL-TIME WERE REGARDED AS UNDEREMPLOYED ONLY IF THEY WERE EITHER AVAILABLE FOR MORE WORK.
SEEKING OR
CENSUS AND COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS (FOR EXAMPLE PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIES FROM MONTH, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED
OF FIRST-TIME ACCOUNT OF THE VARIATIONS IN THE NUMBER SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.
MONTH TO TO TAKE JOB-SEEKERS
PROVISIONAL
THE
ΤΗΣ COMMISSIONER ADDED THAT, BASED ON A SYSTEM OF COUNTS, THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES COVERING THE LATEST THREE-MONTH PERIOD COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER
UNEMPLOYMENT SURVEY. THESE PROVIDE AN EARLY INDICATION OF THE LATEST AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION.
THE PROVISIONAL SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR APRIL RATE JUNE 1989 WAS 1.4 PER CENT AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT WAS 0.8 PER CENT.
OBTAINED
THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS WERE FROM A CONTINUOUS GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THIS SURVEY COVERS A QUARTERLY SAMPLE OF SOME 14,000 HOUSEHOLDS OR 52,000 PERSONS, SELECTED SCIENTIFICALLY TO REPRESENT THE LAND-BASED CIVILIAN NON-INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION IN HONG KONG.
BY
THE
MEASURING
BY
PERSONAL AND LABOUR FORCE DATA WERE OBTAINED IN THE SURVEY
15 AND ABOVE IN AGED INDIVIDUAL EACH
MEMBER INTERVIEWING
IN THE SURVEY, THE DEFINITIONS USED IN HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED. UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOPMENT FOLLOW CLOSELY THOSE RECOMMENDED THE ILO.
DETAILED ANALYSIS OF LABOUR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS IS GIVEN
PUBLISHED FOUR THE REPORT ON THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY WHICH IS TIMES A YEAR.
IN
AVAILABLE BUILDING, COPY,
THE NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1989 WILL
FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, GROUND FLOOR, AT $10 CONNAUGHT PLACE, CENTRAL AROUND SEPTEMBER 20
BE
GRO
PER
/10
Page 10Page 11