XN000022-1983-10-14 — Page 2

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1983

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DECLINES

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THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION CONTINUES TO IMPROVE, ACCORDING TO LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

THE FIGURES WERE OBTAINED FROM THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY FOR THE QUARTER JUNE - AUGUST 1983.

THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JUNE - AUGUST 1983 WAS 3.7 PER CENT, WHICH COMPARES FAVOURABLY WITH FIVE PER CENT FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER ENDING MAY 1983. GIVEN THAT THE FIGURE FOR MAY - JULY 1983 WAS 3.9 PER CENT, THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE MAY HAVE BEGUN TO STABILISE AFTER THE SIGNIFICANT DECLINE IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1983. THE RATE FOR THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST LAST YEAR WAS 3.5 PER CENT.

THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST 1983 WAS PROVISIONALLY ESTIMATED TO BE 94 000, AS COMPARED WITH 125 100 FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER, AND 87 500 FOR THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR.

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST 1983 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 1.5 PER CENT, WHICH WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THAT RECORDED FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1983, AT 2.2 PER CENT. THE PROVISIONAL ESTIMATE OF THE NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS WAS 39 000 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST, AS COMPARED WITH 54 100 FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER.

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 COMMENTING UPON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS (E.G. PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIES 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 UNADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST 1983 WAS 3.9 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 CIVILIAN NON-INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION IN HONG KONG. PERSONAL AND LABOUR FORCE DATA WERE OBTAINED IN THE SURVEY BY INTERVIEWING EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER IN THE HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED.

DETAILED MALYSIS