XN000022-1980-01-03 — Page 2

THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 1980

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RESULTS OF LABOUR FORCE SURVEY

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THE RESULTS OF A SAMPLE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY CONDUCTED LAST SEPTEMBER BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT SHOWED THAT THERE WERE AT THAT TIME 74 600 UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN HONG KONG REPRESENTING 3.4 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL LABOUR FORCE, COMPARED WITH 55 600 OR 2.7 PER CENT IN SEPTEMBER 1978 AND 48 200 OR 2.3 PER CENT IN MARCH 1979.

COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT SAID THE INCREASE IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 1.1 PER CENT (OR 26 400 PERSONS) OVER THE PAST SIX MONTHS WAS TO A SIGNIFICANT DEGREE DUE TO SEASONAL EFFECTS.

THERE ARE USUALLY SUBSTANTIALLY MORE FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS (PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) IN SEPTEMBER THAN IN MARCH.

THE NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS ESTIMATED IN THE SEPTEMBER 1979 SURVEY WAS 18 600 AS COMPARED WITH 4 500 IN THE MARCH 1979 SURVEY (AN INCREASE OF 14 100 PERSONS).

THE SPOKESMAN SAID: IF THE SEPTEMBER 1979 RATE IS ADJUSTED FOR THIS SEASONAL INFLUENCE TO PUT IT ON THE SAME BASIS AS THE MARCH 1979 RATE, IT BECOMES 2.8 PER CENT.

+THE CORRECTED DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS FIGURE AND THE MARCH 1979 RATE OF 0.5 PER CENT IS STILL STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

+ALTHOUGH THERE WAS AN ACTUAL INCREASE IN THE LEVEL OF UNEMPLOYMENT OVER THE PAST SIX MONTHS, THERE WAS ALSO AN INCREASE IN JOB OPPORTUNITIES TAKEN UP BECAUSE THE SIZE OF THE LABOUR FORCE ROSE BY 98 000.+

THE SPOKESMAN EXPLAINED THAT, FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE SURVEY, PERSONS AGED BETWEEN 14 - 64 WHO WERE NOT IN EMPLOYMENT, OR WHO HAD WORKED FOR LESS THAN 15 HOURS IN THE SEVEN DAYS BEFORE THE SURVEY DATE, BUT WERE LOOKING FOR WORK, WERE CLASSIFIED AS UNEMPLOYED.

HE ALSO POINTED OUT THE VARIOUS DEFINITIONS OF UNEMPLOYMENT USED BY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. THE SPOKESMAN SAID IN HONG KONG 'UNEMPLOYED' INCLUDED PEOPLE WHO HAD JUST LEFT SCHOOL AND WHO REALLY HAD NOT HAD MUCH CHANCE TO FIND A JOB OR WHO HAD JUST, BUT ONLY JUST, TAKEN UP WORK OR WHO HAD TEMPORARILY BEEN LAID OFF WORK (WORKING LESS THAN 15 HOURS IN THE LAST SEVEN DAYS)- OR WHO WERE AVAILABLE FOR WORK, BUT WERE NOT ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR WORK BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS NONE OR BECAUSE THEY WERE TEMPORARILY SICK.

HE SAID A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE SURVEY WAS NOW AVAILABLE AND COPIES COULD BE OBTAINED ON REQUEST FROM THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

HE ADDED THAT SIMILAR INFORMATION ON EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT WAS SOUGHT AT REGULAR SIX-MONTHLY INTERVALS. NEXT LABOUR FORCE SURVEY WOULD BE HELD IN MARCH THIS YEAR.

THE

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