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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1988

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR MAY-JULY 1988 WAS 16,100, COMPARED WITH 24,700 FOR THE THREE MONTHA ENDING APRIL 1988 AND 28,600 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JULY 1987.

CONSISTENT WITH

THE CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO), PERSONS WHO WORKED LESS THAN 35 HOURS A WEEK DUE TO ECONOMIC REASONS (BUCH AS BLACK WORK, MATERIAL SHORTAGE, MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN AND INABILITY TO FIND FULL-TINE WORK) WERE REGARDED AS UNDEREMPLOYED ONLY IF THEY WERE EITHER SERKING OR AVAILABLE FOR MORE WORK.

CENSUS AND JOB SEEKERS

COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME

(8.0. PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIES FROM MONTH TO MONTH, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT HAD BEEN SRARONALLY ADJUSTED TO ТАКВ ACCOUNT OF THE VARIATIONS IN THE NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.

THE COMMISSIONER ADDED THAT, BASED ON A SYSTEM OF PROVISIONAL COUNTS, THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES COVERING THE LATEST THREE MONTHS PERIOD COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE WITHIN TWO WERKS AFTER THE SURVEY,

THESE PROVIDE AN EARLY INDICATION OF THE LATEST TREND IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION.

THE PROVISIONAL

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JUNE-AUGUST 1988 WAS 1.8 PRR CENT AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 0.6 PER CENT.

THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS WERK OBTAINED FROM A CONTINUOUS GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

THIS SURVEY COVERS A QUARTERLY SAMPLR OF SOME 14, 000 HOUSEHOLDS OR 50,000 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 INTERVIEWING BACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER AGRD 15 AND ABOVE IN HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED.

BY

THE

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

DETAILED ANALYSIS OF LABOUR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS IS GIVEN EN THE REPORT ON THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY WHICH 19 TUBLISHRD FOUR TIMES A YEAR.

THE NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1988 SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, GPO BUILDING, CONNAUGHT PLACE, CENTRAL, AROUND SEPTEMBER 20, AT $10 PER COPY.

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