TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1991
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SEPT-NOV UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS RELEASED
RATE
THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DECREASED WHILE THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT REMAINED STABLE AT A LOW LEVEL DURING THE PERIOD OF SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER 1990. ACCORDING ΤΟ THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY (TUESDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER 1990 WAS 1.4 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH 1.8 PER CENT FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING AUGUST 1990 AND 1.3 PER CENT FOR THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER.
THE DECREASE OF 0.4 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE PRECEDING THREE-MONTH PERIOD IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT WHILE THE INCREASE OF 0.1 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT.
THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER 1990 WAS ESTIMATED AT 40,000, COMPARED WITH 48,600 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING AUGUST 1990 AND 37. 000 IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD OF 1989.
THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER 1990 WAS 0.9 PER CENT. WHICH WAS THE SAME AS THAT FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING AUGUST 1990 AND THAT FOR THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD OF 1989 WAS 0.8 PER CENT.
THE INCREASE OF 0.1 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD OF 1989 IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT.
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS IN SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER 1990 WAS 25,100, COMPARED WITH 26,200 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING AUGUST 1990 AND 22,000 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING NOVEMBER 1989.
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.
COMMENT ING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS SAID BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS (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 ADDED THAT, BASED ON A SYSTEM OF PROVISIONAL COUNTS, THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES COVERING THE LATEST THREE-MONTH PERIOD COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER SURVEY.
THE
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