XN000022-1991-07-15 — Page 5

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MONDAY JULY 15, 1991

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MAY

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS IN MARCH 1991 WAS 54,100, COMPARED WITH 30,600 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1991 AND 26,900 IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER.

OF

CONSISTENT WITH THE CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS

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

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

THE PROVISIONAL SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR APRIL JUNE 1991 WAS 2.4% AND THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 1.7%.

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

THE SURVEY FOR MARCH

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MAY 1991 COVERED A QUARTERLY SAMPLE OF SOME 10,600 HOUSEHOLDS OR 37,000 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 EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER AGED 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 IN THE REPORT ON THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY WHICH IS PUBLISHED FOUR TIMES A YEAR.

THE

NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 1991 WILL AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, GROUND FLOOR, BUILDING, CONNAUGHT PLACE, CENTRAL AROUND SEPTEMBER 20 AT $13.50

BE

GPO

PER

COPY.

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