XN000022-1989-02-16 — Page 4

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1989

UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS FOR OCT

-

DEC RELEASED

DURING THE PERIOD OCTOBER

DECEMBER 1988, THE

UNEMPLOYMENT

RATE

RATE FELL TO AN HISTORIC LOW LEVEL, WHILE THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT REMAINED LOW.

THIS IS SHOWN IN THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTIC3 TODAY (THURSDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

RELEASED

THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR OCTOBER DECEMBER 1988 WAS 1.3 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH 1.6 PER CENT FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 1988 AND 1.9 PER CENT FOR THE SAME PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER.

PREVIOUS

THE DECREASES OF 0.3 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE THREE MONTHS PERIOD AND 0.6 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE SAME PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER ARE BOTH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN OCTOBER

DECEMBER 1988 WAS ESTIMATED AT 36,200, COMPARED WITH 43,800 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 1988 AND 53,000 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING DECEMBER 1987.

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR OCTOBER DECEMBER 1988 WAS 0.7 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH 0.6 PER CENT FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 1988, THE RATE FOR OCTOBER - DECEMBER 1987 WAS 1.0 PER CENT.

THE INCREASE OF 0.1 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE PREVIOUS THREE MONTHS PERIOD IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT WHILE THE DECREASE OF 0.3 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE SAME PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR OCTOBER DECEMBER 1988 WAS 18,400, COMPARED WITH 15,400 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 1988 AND 28,500 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING DECEMBER 1987.

Į

THE

THAN

WORK,

FIND

CONSISTENT WITH THE CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO) PERSONS WHO WORKED LESS 35 HOURS A WEEK DUE TO ECONOM LC REASONS (SUCH AS SLACK MATERIAL SHORTAGE, MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN AND INABILITY 'I'T FULL-TIME WORK) WERE REGARDED AS UNDEREMPLOYED ONLY IF THEY WERE EITHER SEEKING OR AVAILABLE FOR MORE WORK.

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

FROM (FOR EXAMPLE PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIES

то MONTH ADJUSTED TO TAKE MONTH, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ACCOUNT OF THE VARIATIONS IN THE NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME JOB- SEFFUS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.

/THE COMMISSIONER