XN000022-1987-07-15 — Page 52

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 1987

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR MARCH

-

CENT

OF

IS

MAY 1987 WAS 1.1 PER

MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY WHICH COMPARES WITH 1 PER CENT FOR THE THREE 1987. THE RATE FOR MARCH - MAY 1986 WAS 2.4 PER CENT. THE INCREASE

THREE MONTH THE PREVIOUS OVER POINT PERCENTAGE 0.1

OF 1.3 PERCENTAGE STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT, WHILE THE DECREASE

YEAR EARLIER IS STATISTICALLY PERIOD A

POINTS BELOW SIGNIFICANT.

THE SAME

PERIOD

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR MARCH

FOR OF 27,400

THE 1987 WAS 29,600, COMPARED WITH THE NUMBER

THE THREE MONTH PERIOD ENDING FEBRUARY 1987 AND OF 64,200 FOR PERIOD ENDING MAY 1986.

CONSISTENT

WITH

THE

CURRENT

OF

-

MAY THREВ MONTH

THE

THAN MATERIAL FULL-TIME WORK)

RECOMMENDATIONS INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO), PERSONS WHO WORKED LESS 35 HOURS A WEEK DUE TO ECONOMIC REASONS (SUCH AS SLACK WORK, SHORTAGE, MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN AND INABILITY TO FIND

EITHER WERE WERE REGARDED AS UNDEREMPLOYED ONLY IF THEY AVAILABLE FOR MORE WORK.

FOR

SEEKING

OR

CENSUS AND COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER

JOB-SKEKERS STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME

MONTH TO MONTH, (E.G. PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIES FROM

ACCOUNT UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED TO TAKE

JOB-SEEKERS SHOULD BE OF THE VARIATIONS IN THE NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.

THAT,

SYSTEM

OF MANUAL FOR THE LATEST RATES COVERING TWO

ON A BASED THE COMMISSIONER ADDED EXTRACTION OF INFORMATION FROM SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES

AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT MONTH, PROVISIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT

COULD BE

AVAILABLE MADE THE LATEST THREE MONTH PERIOD WEEKS AFTER THE SURVEY.

THESE PROVIDE AN EARLY INDICATION OF THE LATEST

UNDEREMPLOYMENT

WITHIN

TREND IN THE PROVISIONAL

THE SITUATION. UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, SEASONALLY ADJUSTED, FOR APRIL - JUNE 1987 WAS PER CENT AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 1.1 PER CENT.

THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

CONDUCTED FROM A CONTINUOUS GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

1.7

WERE OBTAINED BY THE CENSUS

THIS

A SURVEY COVERS

OF SAMPLE

SOME 14,000 QUARTERLY

ΤΟ SCIENTIFICALLY SELECTED

REPRESENT HOUSEHOLDS OR 51,000 PERSONS, THE LAND-BASED CIVILIAN NON-INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION IN HONG KONG.

MEMBER

SURVEY PERSONAL AND LABOUR FORCE DATA WERE OBTAINED IN THE

AGED 15 AND ABOVE IN INTERVIEWING EACH INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED.

BY THE

MEASURING UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE SURVEY, THE DEFINITIONS USED IN AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT FOLLOW CLOSELY THOSE RECOMMENDED BY THE ILO.

GIVEN IN DETAILED ANALYSIS OF LABOUR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS IS

WHICH IS PUBLISHED FOUR THE REPORT ON THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY

ENDING JUNE 1987 TIMES A YEAR. THE NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER

PUBLICATIONS CENTRE AROUND SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT SEPTEMBER 20, 1987 AT $9.50 PER COPY.

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