XN000022-1984-12-14 — Page 13

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1984

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THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER 1984 WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 99 900, AS COMPARED WITH 90 200 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JULY 1984 AND 104 600 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF 1983.

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR AUGUST - OCTOBER 1984 WAS ONE PER CENT, AS COMPARED WITH THE RATE OF 0.9 PER CENT FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER. THE RATE FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF 1983 WAS 1.6 PER CENT.

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS WAS 26 500 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER 1984, WHICH COMPARES WITH 23 200 FOR THE QUARTER ENDING JULY 1984 BUT WAS MUCH LOWER THAN THE 40 900 FOR THE SAME QUARTER OF LAST YEAR.

THE DECREASES IN THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE AND IN THE NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS OVER THE YEAR WERE BOTH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT, THE SPOKESMAN SAID. 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 SPOKESMAN 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 THE 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.

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THE PROVISIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED) FOR SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER 1984 WAS 4.1 PER CENT, AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS ONE PER CENT. HOWEVER, IT WAS EXPECTED THAT THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE WOULD BE LOWER AFTER SEASONAL ADJUSTMENT. THE UNADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR AUGUST OCTOBER 1984 WAS 4.1 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 14 000 HOUSEHOLDS OR 53 000 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 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 LATER THIS MONTH.

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