XN000022-1984-10-12 — Page 7

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1984

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THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST 1984 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 90 800, AS COMPARED WITH 98 300 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1984 AND 95 200 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR.

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JUNE-AUGUST 1984 WAS 0.9 PER CENT WHICH WAS THE SAME AS THAT FOR MARCH-MAY 1984. THE RATE FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF 1983 WAS 1.5 PER CENT. THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS WAS 24 500 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING AUGUST 1984, AS COMPARED WITH 24 300 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING MAY 1984 AND 39 200 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR.

THE DECREASES IN THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE AND IN THE NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS OVER THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

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 (E.G. PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIED 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.

HE ALSO SAID THAT 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. THE PROVISIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED) FOR JULY-SEPTEMBER 1984 WAS 3.9 PER CENT, AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 1.0 PER CENT. HOWEVER, IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE WILL BE LOWER AFTER SEASONAL ADJUSTMENT. THE UNADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JUNE- AUGUST 1984 WAS 3.8 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 HOUSEHOLD 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 SEPTEMBER 1984 SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE IN DECEMBER, HE SAID.

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