XN000022-1983-03-30 — Page 2

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1983

LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS FOR NOVEMBER

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JANUARY QUARTER

THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR THE QUARTER NOVEMBER 1982 – JANUARY 1983 WAS 4.3 PER CENT COMPARED WITH 3.8 PER CENT FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER 1982, AND THREE PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY LAST YEAR.

THE INCREASES OF 0.5 PERCENTAGE POINT AND 1.3 PERCENTAGE POINT RESPECTIVELY COMPARED WITH THE TWO PREVIOUS QUARTERS WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT, THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS, MR COLIN GREENFIELD, SAID TODAY (MONDAY).

THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1983 WAS PROVISIONALLY ESTIMATED TO BE 107 000, AS COMPARED WITH 96 200 FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER, AND 74 400 FOR THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR.

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 2.4 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1983, COMPARED WITH 1.7 PER CENT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER 1982. THE PROVISIONAL ESTIMATE OF THE NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS WAS 59 000 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1983, COMPARED WITH 41 500 FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER.

MR GREENFIELD EXPLAINED THAT, CONSISTENT WITH THE

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION, PERSONS WHO WORKED LESS THAN 35 HOURS A WEEK WERE REGARDED AS UNDEREMPLOYED ONLY IF THEY WERE SEEKING MORE WORK OR WERE NOT SEEKING MORE WORK BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED MORE WORK WAS NOT AVAILABLE. IN OTHER WORDS, PEOPLE SUCH AS PART-TIME WORKERS WHO CHOSE TO WORK LESS THAN 35 HOURS A WEEK AND WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR MORE WORK, WERE NOT UNDEREMPLOYED.

HE SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB- SEEKERS (E.G. PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIED FROM MONTH TO MONTH, THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATES SEASONALLY ADJUSTED FOR THE VARIATIONS IN FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.

THE SEASONALLY UNADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JANUARY 1983 WAS 4.4 PER CENT.

THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS WERE OBTAINED FROM A CONTINUOUS GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT. THIS SURVEY COVERS A QUARTERLY SAMPLE OF SOME 15 000 HOUSEHOLDS OR 55 000 PERSONS, SELECTED SCIENTIFICALLY TO REPRESENT THE LAND-BASED POPULATION IN HONG KONG.

PERSONAL AND LABOUR FORCE DATA WERE OBTAINED IN THE SURVEY BY INTERVIEWING EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER IN THE HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED.

MR GREENFIELD DREW ATTENTION TO THE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS USED IN THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY FROM THOSE USED IN THE PREVIOUS LABOUR FORCE SURVEY.

THE EFFECT

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