XN000022-1984-05-13 — Page 3

SUNDAY, MAY 13, 1984

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AT TODAY'S CEREMONY, THE COMMANDER BRITISH FORCES ALSO PRESENTED EFFICIENCY AWARDS TO SEVEN VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE SERVED IN THE REGIMENT FOR MORE THAN 12 YEARS.

EFFICIENCY DECORATION WAS GIVEN TO MAJOR FRANK DRAKE, AND THE FIRST CLASP TO EFFICIENCY MEDAL WAS AWARDED TO TROOPER CHAN SHU-SUM. WARRANT OFFICER TONG TSUN-YUK, STAFF SERGEANT SHUM CHEE- WANG, CORPORAL TANG SIN-LEUNG, LANCE CORPORAL HU1 YAU-HOI AND TROOPER YIP CHI-MING RECEIVED EFFICIENCY MEDALS.

APPLICATION

THE ROYAL HONG KONG REGIMENT WILL LAUNCH A NEW RECRUITMENT DRIVE NEXT MONTH FOR 20 FEMALE AND 80 MALE VOLUNTEERS. FORMS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AT ALL DISTRICT OFFICES.

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LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS FOR JANUARY MARCH

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THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION REMAINED LARGELY STABLE, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

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THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JANUARY MARCH 1984 WAS FOUR PER CENT, THE SAME AS THAT RECORDED FOR THE QUARTER ENDING IN FEBRUARY 1984.

THE RATE FOR OCTOBER - DECEMBER 1983 WAS 4.1 PER CENT AND THAT FOR THE QUARTER ENDING IN MARCH 1983 WAS 5.1 PER CENT.

THE DECREASE OF 1.1 PERCENTAGE POINTS OVER THE YEAR WAS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER ENDING IN MARCH 1984 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 102 000, COMPARED WITH 105 500 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING IN DECEMBER 1983, AND 127 300 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR.

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JANUARY - MARCH 1984 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 1.5 PER CENT WHILE THAT FOR OCTOBER - DECEMBER 1983 WAS 1.4 PER CENT. THE DIFFERENCE WAS NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

THE RATE FOR JANUARY MARCH 1983 WAS 2.5 PER CENT.

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS WAS 37 800 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING IN MARCH 1984, COMPARED WITH 36 800 FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER ENDING IN DECEMBER 1983.

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.

/COMMENTING UPON