TNAG-0583-FCO40-716-Estimates-of-gross-domestic-product-(GDP)-of-Hong-Kong-1976 — Page 16

GRS 300

IMMEDIATE

CYPHER CAT/A

CONFIDENTIAL

REGE!

Orig

FM HONG KONG

CONFIDENTIAL

T

3 C.

HIK 210/1 HKK 180/4

HKK 100/4

TO IMMEDIATE F C O TELEGRAM NO 1149 OF 15 NOVEMBER

INFO PEKING AND HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON (F C O CO

PASS).

YOUR TELEGRAM NO 911: PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS BY SIR

ANTHONY ROYLE.

THERE ARE NO UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY ALONE. THERE ARE ONLY TWO OBSERVATIONS FOR RECENT LEVELS OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN HONG KONG: THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEYS OF SEPTEMBER 1975 AND MARCH 1976. UNEMPLOYMENT IS MEASURED FROM A MOUSEHOLD SURVEY SIMILAR TO THE MEASURE OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA AND IS NOT (REPEAT NOT) COMPARABLE WITH THE FIGURES FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM (WHERE UNEMPLOYMENT IS MEASURED BY THE NUMBERS REGISTERING AS UNEMPLOYED). IN HONG KONG, THE UNEMPLOYED POPULATION IS, BROADLY SPEAKING, DEFINED AS PERSONS BETWEEN 14 AND 64 YEARS OF AGE AND NOT OF INDEPENDENT MEANS WHO, DURING THE SEVEN DAYS PRIOR TO ENUMERATION, WORKED LESS THAN 15 HOURS AND

WERE SEEKING WORK.

2. IN SEPTEMBER 1975, THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED BETWEEN 14-64 YEARS OF AGE WAS, 177,000 (9.1%)C IN MARCH 1976 THIS HAD FALLEN TO 107,000 (5.6%). BECAUSE OF THE WAY UNEMPLOYMENT IS MEASURED IN HONG KONG, THE, FIGURE IS UNLIKELY TO FALL BELOW 4-5% EVEN WHEN JOBS ARE WIDELY AVAILABLE.

3. THE ANNUAL RATE OF INFLATION IN HONG KONG CAN BE MEASURED IN TWO WAYS: THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX AND THE G.D.P. DEFLATOR.

A) THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX GIVES THE FOLLOWING RATES:

1974

1973

: 14%

1975

1%

1974

/9 MONTHS 1976

CONFIDENTIAL