XN000022-1991-04-15 — Page 3

MONDAY,

APRIL 15, 1991

2

UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS FOR DEC-FEB

BOTH THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE REMAINED AT A LOW LEVEL DURING THE PERIOD DECEMBER 1990 FEBRUARY 1991, ACCORDING ΤΟ THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY (MONDAY) BY CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT,

THE

THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR DECEMBER 1990

FOR THE THREE FEBRUARY 1991 WAS 1.4%, WHICH WAS THE SAME AS THAT MONTHS ENDING NOVEMBER 1990. THE RATE FOR THE CORRESPONDING YEAR EARLIER WAS 1.5%.

PERCENTAGE A

PERIOD A

THE

THE DECREASE OF 0.1 OF

POINT BELOW CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT.

FEBRUARY

THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN DECEMBER 1990 1991 WAS ESTIMATED AT 40,500, COMPARED WITH 40,000 IN THE THREE MONTHS A YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 1990 AND 40,800 IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD EARLIER.

1.1%. THE

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR DECEMBER 1990 COMPARED WITH 0.9% FOR SEPTEMBER CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER.

FEBRUARY 1991 WAS NOVEMBER 1990 AND 0.6% FOR

THE PRECEDING

PERIOD A YEAR

THE INCREASE OF 0.2 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THREE-MONTH PERIOD IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT WHILE THE INCREASE OF 0.5 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE CORRESPONDING BARLIER IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

1990 THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS IN DECEMBER

THREE MONTHS FEBRUARY 1991 WAS 30,600, COMPARED WITH 25,100 IN THE

A YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 1990 AND 17,500 IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD AGO.

CONSISTENT

RECOMMENDATIONS

OF

THE THAN

MATERIAL WORK)

WITH THE CURRENT 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

(FOR MONTH, ACCOUNT SHOULD BE

COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR STATISTICS SAID BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS EXAMPLE PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIES FROM MONTH TO UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED TO TAKE OP THE VARIATIONS IN THE NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.

COUNTS

THREE- THE

THE COMMISSIONER SAID BASED ON A SYSTEM OF PROVISIONAL THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES COVERING THE LATEST

WERKS AFTER MONTH PERIOD COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE WITHIN SURVEY.

TWO

THESE

INDICATION OF THE PROVIDE AN BARLY AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT SITUATION.

LATEST

UNEMPLOYMENT

/THE PROVISIONAL