XN000022-1984-07-13 — Page 4

3

FRIDAY, JULY 13, 1984

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS WAS 24 300 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1984, AS COMPARED WITH 41 400 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING FEBRUARY 1984, HE SAID.

CONS ISTENT 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 SEEK ING MORE WORK OR WERE NOT SEEKING MORE WORK BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED MORE WORK WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

THE COMMISSIONER ALSO 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 WHICH HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED FOR THE VARIATION IN FIRST-TIME JOB- SEEKERS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.

+BASED ON A SYSTEM OF MANUAL EXTRACTION OF INFORMATION FROM SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES FOR THE LATEST MONTH, PROVISIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES COVERING THE LATEST MOVING THREE-MONTH PERIOD COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER THE SURVEY, + HE SAID.

+AFTER TESTING THIS SYSTEM FOR A NUMBER OF MONTHS, HE WAS CONF IDENT THAT THE PROVISIONAL RATES WOULD NOT BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THE FINAL RATES AND COULD BE SEEN AS AN EARLIER

INDICATION OF THE LATEST UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION, + HE SAID.

THE PROVISIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED) FOR APRIL - JUNE 1984 WAS 3.6 PER CENT, AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 1.0 PER CENT. THE UNADJUSTED UNEMPLOY- MENT RATE FOR MARCH MAY 1984 WAS ALSO 3.6 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 INTERVIEW ING EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER IN THE HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED.

DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE LABOUR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS IS GIVEN IN THE REPORT ON THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY WHICH IS PUBLISHED FOUR TIMES A YEAR. THE NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1984 WILL BE AVAILALBLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE LATE IN SEPTEMBER.

O

14