XN000022-1991-10-14 — Page 5

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1991

THE DECREASE OF 0.4 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE PRECEDING THREE-MONTH PERIOD AND THE INCREASE OF 0.6 OF A PERCENTAGE POINT OVER THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER ARE BOTH STATISTICALLY

SIGNIFICANT.

-

AUGUST

MAY

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS IN JUNE 1991 WAS 41,000, COMPARED WITH 54,100 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING 1991 AND 26,200 IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER.

THE

CONSISTENT WITH THE CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO), PERSONS WHO WORKED LESS THAN 35 HOURS A WEEK DUE TO ECONOMIC REASONS (SUCH AS SLACK WORK, MATERIÁL 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 (E.G. 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-SEKKERS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.

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

—

THE SURVEY FOR JUNE AUGUST 1991 COVERED A QUARTERLY SAMPLE of SOME 11,700 HOUSEHOLDS OR 41,000 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 BY INTERVIEWING EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER AGED 15 AND ABOVE IN THE HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLED.

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.

BE

THE NEXT REPORT COVERING THE QUARTER ENDING SEPTEMBER 1991 WILL AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, GROUND FLOOR GENERAL POST OFFICE BUILDING, CONNAUGHT PLACE, CENTRAL DECEMBER 20 AT $13.50 PER COPY.

AROUND

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