XN000022-1984-08-14 — Page 4

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1984

3

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DROPS

****

THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE SECOND QUARTER, COMPARED WITH THE FIRST QUARTER OF THIS YEAR, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

-

THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR APRIL JUNE 1984 WAS 3.5 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH 4.0 PER CENT FOR JANUARY - MARCH 1984 AND 4.4 PER CENT FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF 1983.

THE DECREASES OF 0.5 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND OF 0.9 PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR WERE BOTH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT (THAT IS, THE DECREASES WERE GREATER THAN COULD BE EXPLAINED BY SAMPLING ERROR).

THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1984 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 91 900, COMPARED WITH 102 000 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MARCH 1984 AND 110 900 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR.

A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN COMMENTED THAT THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 3.5 PER CENT FOR THE SECOND QUARTER THIS YEAR WAS VERY LOW, SUGGESTING THAT THE LABOUR FORCE MIGHT HAVE BEEN EFFECTIVELY FULLY EMPLOYED.

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR APRIL - JUNE 1984 WAS 1.0 PER CENT WHILE THAT FOR JANUARY - MARCH 1984 WAS 1.5 PER CENT. THE DROP WAS ALSO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF 1983 WAS 1.9 PER CENT.

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS WAS 25 600 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1984, COMPARED WITH 37 800 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MARCH 1984.

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 THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR CENSUS AND STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS, SUCH AS PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL, VAR IES 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.

THE PROVISIONAL