TUESDAY, MAY 14, 1991
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS IN JANUARY MARCH 1991 WAS 43,600, COMPARED WITH 21,700 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING DECEMBER 1990 AND 18,300 IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER,
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 MONTH ΤΟ ΤΟ TAKE 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,
UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ACCOUNT OF THE VARIATIONS IN THE NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.
PROVISIONAL
THE 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 SURVEY.
THE
THESE PROVIDE AN EARLY INDICATION OF THE LATEST UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION.
THE PROVISIONAL SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR FEBRUARY APRIL 1991 WERE BOTH 2.1%.
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THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS WERE OBTAINED FROM A CONTINUOUS GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE SURVEY FOR JANUARY MARCH 1991 COVERED A QUARTERLY SAMPLE OF SOME 11,100 HOUSEHOLDS OR 39,000 PERSONS, SELECTED SCIENTIFICALLY TO 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 IS PUBLISHED FOUR TIMES A YEAR.
THE NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER ENDING MARCH 1991 WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, GROUND FLOOR, GPO BUILDING, CONNAUGHT PLACE, CENTRAL AROUND JUNE 20 AT $13.50 PER COPY.
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