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7
THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1990
UNEMPLOYMENT, UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS FOR NOV
-
JAN RELEASED
THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE SHOWED LITTLE CHANGE WHILE THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE INCREASED
THE PERIOD
JANUARY 1990.
DURING
THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT INDICATE MARKET WAS STILL GENERALLY TIGHT AS BOTH THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES REMAINED RELATIVELY LOW,
NOVEMBER 1989
-
TODAY (THURSDAY) THAT THE LABOUR UNEMPLOYMENT AND
THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR NOVEMBER JANUARY 1990 WAS 1.3 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH 1.4 PER CENT THREE MONTHS ENDING OCTOBER 1989. IT WAS THE SAME AS THAT CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER.
THE DECREASE OF 0.1 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THREE-MONTH PERIOD IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT.
1989
FOR THE FOR THE
THE PRECEDING
-
JANUARY
THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN NOVEMBER 1989 1990 WAS ESTIMATED AT 36,800, COMPARED WITH 37,600 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING OCTOBER 1989 AND 35,400 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JANUARY 1989.
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR NOVEMBER 1989 JANUARY 1990 WAS 0.9 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH 0.6 PER CENT FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING OCTOBER 1989 AND 0.7 PER CENT FOR THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER.
PRECEDING OVER THE BOTH STATISTICALLY
THE INCREASES OF 0.3 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE THREE-MONTH PERIOD AND 0.2 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER ARE SIGNIFICANT.
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS IN NOVEMBER 1989 JANUARY 1990 WAS 24,800, COMPARED WITH 17,800 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING OCTOBER 1989 AND 19,900 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JANUARY 1989.
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.
CENSUS AND JOB-SEEKERS
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME (FOR EXAMPLE 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