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HK-Guangdong talks on boundaries of administration
Further discussions on matters relating to the boundaries of administration between Hong Kong and Guangdong will take place in Shenzhen tomorrow (Friday) between the Hong Kong Government and the Guangdong provincial authorities, a Government spokesman said today (Thursday).
The Deputy Political Adviser, Mr John Ashton, will lead the Hong Kong team.
Mr Xiao Jinzhe, Deputy Director General of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Guangdong Provincial Government, will lead the Guangdong team.
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Latest unemployment and underemployment statistics out
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the period September November 1996 was 2.7%, and the underemployment rate was 1.5%, according to the latest labour force statistics released today (Thursday) by the Census and Statistics Department.
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For the period October December 1996, the provisional seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.7%, while the provisional underemployment rate was marginally higher, at 1.6%.
Commenting on these figures, a government spokesman said that for the latest period, October - December 1996, slight declines in the unemployment rate were seen in the transport, community, social and personal services, and real estate and business services sectors, while a slight increase was observed in the wholesale, retail and import/export trades, restaurants and hotels sector. The overall unemployment rate thus remained unchanged over the period.
As to the underemployment rate, the slight increase occurred mainly in the transport sector, while the underemployment situation in the other major sectors was generally stable.
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Total employment continued to show robust growth, at a faster pace than total labour force. In the three months ending November 1996, total employment increased by 3.6% over a year earlier, while total labour supply increased by 2.5%.