XN000022-1977-05-23 — Page 3

MONDAY, MAY 23, 1977

LABOUR FORCE SURVEY

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THERE WERE 86,000 UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN HONG KONG IN MARCH, ACCORDING TO A SAMPLE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT IN THAT MONTH.

THIS REPRESENTED 4.5 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL LABOUR FORCE IN HONG KONG.

THESE FIGURES COMPARED WITH 109,000 OR 5.6 PER CENT IN MARCH 1976 AND 88,000 OR 4.6 PER CENT IN SEPTEMBER 1976.

THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS EXPLAINED TODAY THAT IN THE SURVEY THE PEOPLE TAKEN TO BE UNEMPLOYED WERE THOSE AGED BETWEEN 14-64 AND WERE NOT IN EMPLOYMENT, OR THOSE WHO HAD WORKED FOR LESS THAN 15 HOURS IN THE SEVEN DAYS PRIOR TO THE SURVEY DATE, BUT WERE LOOKING FOR WORK,

THE COMMISSIONER POINTED OUT THAT THE DEFINITION OF +UNEMPLOYMENT+ VARIED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.

IN HONG KONG, HE SAID, +UNEMPLOYED+ INCLUDED PEOPLE WHO HAD JUST LEFT SCHOOL AND WHO REALLY HAD NOT HAD MUCH OF

A CHANCE TO PICK A JOB WHO HAD JUST, BUT ONLY JUST, TAKEN UP WORK WHO HAD TEMPORARILY, BUT ONLY TEMPORARILY, BEEN LAID OFF WORK- WHO WERE AVAILABLE FOR WORK, BUT WHO WERE NOT ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR WORK BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS NONE TO BE HAD.

IN THIS CONNECTION, THE COMMISSIONER SAID THAT THE DECEMBER 1976 FIGURES FOR THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM WERE 7.9 PER CENT AND 5.8 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY.

+ADJUSTING, AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, THE LATEST HONG KONG FIGURE TO THE U.S.A. BASIS, THE UNEMPLOYMENT SITUATION HERE WAS REPRESENTED BY A FIGURE OF 3.5 PER CENT,+ HE SAID.

COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER SAID THAT THERE WAS EFFECTIVELY NO CHANGE IN THE LEVEL OF UNEMPLOYMENT OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS. THERE WERE, HOWEVER, SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AND IN THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS BETWEEN MARCH 1976 AND MARCH 1977.

THE COMMISSIONER SAID THAT SIMILAR INFORMATION ON UNEMPLOYMENT WOULD BE AVAILABLE AT REGULAR SIX-MONTHLY INTERVALS. THE NEXT LABOUR FORCE SURVEY IS SCHEDULED TO BE HELD IN SEPTEMBER THIS YEAR.

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