3.1% or 78 000 persons in December 1981. These figures were
still significantly lower than the unemployment position in
March 1981 (at 4.1% and 100 700 respectively).
4.3
The number of retrenched workers reported to the
Labour Department in the first half of 1982 was 8 324, an
increase on the first half of 1981 but still small relative to
the total number of workers employed
in the manufacturing
sector. The number of persons on the register of the Local
Employment Service (excluding those seeking Model I pay scale
jobs with the Government and those on the Special Register) at
the end of June 1982 was 10% higher than at the end of June
1981; and the number of vacancies reported to the Labour
Department decreased by 16%.
The supply of and the demand for labour
4.4
on
The adverse effect of immigration family income
appears to have continued to ease in the first half of this
year. Hence, the labour force participation rate (the
proportion of the economically active population working or
seeking work) dropped from 66.8% in March 1981 to 64.7% in March 1982(2).
/4.5 This
(2) Labour force participation rate is defined as the proportion of the total number of persons aged 15 and over represented by persons (aged 15 and over) who are working or persons (aged 15 to 64) who are unemployed. In other words, this definition excludes all those who do not wish to work because of various reasons such as schooling or staying at home as housewives. The following figures are adjusted to the definitions of the labour force survey:
Labour force participation rate (%)
Overall
Male
Female
1980
Mar
62.8
79.6
44.9
Sep
63.8
80.8
45.6
1981
Mar
66.8
82.5
49.5
Sep
65.9
82.4
48.5
Dec
65.0
81.5
47.8
1982
Mar
64.7
81.0
47.8
Starting from September 1981, the half-yearly labour force surveys have been replaced by a series of monthly general household surveys. The estimate for March 1981 was derived from the 1981 Population Census.
29
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