XN000022-1997-04-17 — Page 6

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"It is very encouraging that so far, 33 RPIS Minor Works projects worth a total of $31 million have already been completed in the district. Of these, projects worth $20 million have been undertaken by the Works Section of the North District Office," she added.

Also attending the ceremony, Deputy Secretary for Works, Mr Keith Kwok stressed that the key to the successful implementation of RPIS Minor Works projects is local participation and co-operation as well as HAD's close working relationship with other government departments.

Mrs Lau also took the opportunity to pay tribute to the North District Board, North Rural Committees and concerned government departments for their support.

End

Unemployment and underemployment statistics for Dec - Mar

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the period December 1996 - February 1997 was 2.4%, and the underemployment rate was 1.2%, according to the latest labour force statistics released today (Thursday) by the Census and Statistics Department.

For the period January March 1997, the provisional seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.5%, and the provisional underemployment rate was 1.1%.

Commenting on these figures, a Government spokesman said that, having tightened somewhat since the latter part of last year, overall labour market conditions were generally stable in the most recent months. For the latest period January - March 1997, the slight increase in the unemployment rate was observed mainly in the construction and transport sectors, while the situation in the other major sectors was generally stable. As to the underemployment rate, decreases occurred mainly in the construction and restaurants and hotels sectors, while the situation in the other major sectors was stable.

Total employment continued to grow at a pace distinctly faster than that of the labour force. In the three months ending February 1997, total employment registered an increase of 3.8% over a year earlier. Over the same period, total labour force grew by 3.0%.