XN000022-1997-04-11 — Page 12

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The following is a full list of the members of the Board:

Miss Chiu Kam-hing, Kathy

Mr Andrew Dixon

The Hon Edward Ho Sing-tin

Mr Kwok Ping-sheung, Walter Mr Li Tzar-kai, Richard

Mr Liu Lit-mo

Professor Lung Ping-yee, David

Mr Alasdair G Morrison

Mr Tsui Tsin-tong

Mr Wong Shou-yeh, David

Mr Wu King-cheong, Henry

Ms Wu Suk-ching, Annie

Secretary for Home Affairs or his representative (Ex Officio)

Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport or his representative (Ex Officio)

Employment and vacancy statistics of Dec 1996 released

According to the figures released today (Friday) by the Census and Statistics Department, employment in all major service sectors recorded notable increases in December 1996 over a year earlier. Employment at construction sites also registered a further significant year-on-year increase. On the other hand, employment in the manufacturing sector remained on a downtrend.

In December 1996, vacancies in all major service sectors increased substantially over December 1995. These increases were partly attributable to a low base of comparison in December 1995. Vacancies at construction sites also registered a substantial increase. However, vacancies in the manufacturing sector continued to decrease when compared with a year earlier. For all major sectors surveyed taken together, there were around 52 700 vacancies in December 1996, up 27.7% from the 41 300 vacancies recorded in December 1995.

In terms of the number of persons engaged, the wholesale, retail and import/export trades, restaurants and hotels sector was the largest, employing 1 056 100 persons in December 1996. This was followed by the financing, insurance, real estate and business services sector, with an employment of 395 900; the manufacturing sector, 325 100; the community, social and personal services sector, 320 100; and the transport, storage and communications sector, 181 500. Also, there were 81 700 manual workers at construction sites.