XN000022-1992-02-17 — Page 5

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1992

LATEST UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS RELEASED

THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR OCTOBER DECEMBER LAST YEAR WAS 1.8%, AND THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 1.6%, ACCORDING ΤΟ THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY (MONDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

THE PROVISIONAL SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR THE PERIOD NOVEMBER 1991 JANUARY 1992 WAS 1.9%, WHILE THE PROVISIONAL UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 1.8%.

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ALTHOUGH THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR OCTOBER DECEMBER 1991, AT 1.8%, WAS STILL HIGHER THAN A YEAR EARLIER, IT HAS DRIFTED LOWER SINCE THE THIRD QUARTER, SUGGESTING THAT THE LABOUR MARKET HAS TIGHTENED UP SOMEWHAT DURING THE SECOND HALF OF LAST YEAR.

THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN OCTOBER DECEMBER 1991 WAS ESTIMATED AT 51,900, COMPARED WITH 57,700 IN

MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 1991 AND 37,700 IN OCTOBER

DECEMBER :

THREE 1990.

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WAS 1.6%.

THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR OCTOBER DECEMBER 1991 ALTHOUGH IT WAS HIGHER THAN A YEAR EARLIER, IT REMAINED RELATIVELY STABLE IN THE THIRD AND FOURTH QUARTERS LAST YEAR.

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS IN OCTOBER DECEMBER 1991 WAS 45,100, COMPARED WITH 43,200 IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 1991 AND 21,400 IN OCTOBER DECEMBER 1990.

CONSISTENT WITH THE CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS OF 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 (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-SEEKERS 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.

SAMPLE

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THE SURVEY FOR OCTOBER DECEMBER 1991 COVERED A QUARTERLY OF SOME 11,800 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