XN000022-1977-01-29 — Page 2

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1977

SLIGHT DROP IN MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT

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A TOTAL OF 773,746 PEOPLE WERE EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS IN HONG KONG AS AT DECEMBER 1976, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST EMPLOYMENT SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT IN THE LAST QUARTER OF 1976.

THIS REPRESENTED A SLIGHT DROP OF 5,042 PERSONS OR 0.6 PER CENT COMPARED WITH THE FIGURE OF 778,788 FOR SEPTEMBER 1976.

WHEN COMPARED WITH A TOTAL OF 678,857 PERSONS ENGAGED IN DECEMBER 1975, MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT IN DECEMBER 1976 WAS HIGHER BY 94,889 PERSONS OR 14 PER CENT.

IN TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT, THE FIVE LARGEST INDUSTRY GROUPS REMAINED WEARING APPAREL, TEXTILES, ELECTRICAL MACHINERY, APPLIANCES AND SUPPLIES, PLASTIC PRODUCTS AND FABRICATED METAL PRODUCTS.

A COMPARISON OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 1976 AND DECEMBER 1976 ARE:

CHANGE OF DEC. 1976

OVER SEPT. 1976

PERSONS ENGAGED

PERSONS ENGAGED

PERSONS ENGAGED

INDUSTRY

GROUP

IN DEC.

IN SEPT. IN DEC.

PERSONS

%

1975

1976

1976

ENGAGED

CHANGE

WEARING APPAREL

238,958 273,089 265,913

-7,176

-2.6

TEXTILES

112,922 117,908 115,912

-1,996

-1.7

ELECTRICAL

MACHINERY

APPLIANCES

AND SUPPLIES

66,353 88,872

88,057

815

-0.9

PLASTIC

PRODUCTS

63,706

79,427 76,994

-2,433

-3.1

FABRICATED

METAL PRODUCTS

57,322

66,152 69,781

+3,629

+5.5

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