XN000022-1989-07-14 — Page 10

FRIDAY, JULY 14, 1989

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR MARCH

THREE MONTHS 1989 WAS 25,800, COMPARED WITH 17,200 FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 AND 22,600 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING MAY 1988.

CONSISTENT

WITH

THE

CURRENT

MAY

ENDING

THE THAN

MATERIAL WORK)

OF 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 FULL-TIME WERE REGARDED AS UNDEREMPLOYED ONLY IF THEY WERE EITHER AVAILABLE FOR MORE WORK.

SEEKING OR

CENSUS AND COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS (FOR EXAMPLE PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIES FROM MONTH, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED

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

MONTH TO TO TAKE JOB-SEEKERS

PROVISIONAL

THE

ΤΗΣ COMMISSIONER ADDED THAT, BASED ON A SYSTEM OF COUNTS, THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES COVERING THE LATEST THREE-MONTH PERIOD COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER

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

THE PROVISIONAL SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR APRIL RATE JUNE 1989 WAS 1.4 PER CENT AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT WAS 0.8 PER CENT.

OBTAINED

THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS WERE 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 52,000 PERSONS, SELECTED SCIENTIFICALLY TO REPRESENT THE LAND-BASED CIVILIAN NON-INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION IN HONG KONG.

BY

THE

MEASURING

BY

PERSONAL AND LABOUR FORCE DATA WERE OBTAINED IN THE SURVEY

15 AND ABOVE IN AGED INDIVIDUAL EACH

MEMBER INTERVIEWING

IN THE SURVEY, THE DEFINITIONS USED IN HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED. UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOPMENT FOLLOW CLOSELY THOSE RECOMMENDED THE ILO.

DETAILED ANALYSIS OF LABOUR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS IS GIVEN

PUBLISHED FOUR THE REPORT ON THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY WHICH IS TIMES A YEAR.

IN

AVAILABLE BUILDING, COPY,

THE NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1989 WILL

FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, GROUND FLOOR, AT $10 CONNAUGHT PLACE, CENTRAL AROUND SEPTEMBER 20

BE

GRO

PER

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