TNAG-2977-FCO40-1469-Economic-policy-in-Hong-Kong-1982 — Page 15

appears to have picked up in the third quarter, as indicated

by the increase in tne retained imports of consumer goods

(paragraph 2.7).

The demand for and supply of domestic resources

1.5

There was a slowing down in the growth rate of the

labour force as the influx of illegal immigrants, which was

very substantial in the last few years, abated. The decline

in the labour force participation rate was also a contributing factor (paragraph 4.2). The slowing down in the growth rate of the supply of labour was accompanied by a slowing down in

the growth rate of the demand for it. In the case of the manufacturing sector, which is predominantly export oriented,

there was in fact a fall in demand. During the twelve months

ending June 1982, employment in the manufacturing sector

showed a net decrease while employment in the tertiary services sectors continued to increase (paragraph 4.4)

1.6

been

there was

•

it

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, which had decreasing throughout 1981, started to increase again, reaching 3.5% in March 1982 and

no significant

change in June (paragraph 4.1). Despite the recession,

appeared that up

June employers had not been shedding

labour on а substantial scale. There are, however,

indications that since June unemployment has been on the

increase.

to

1.7

As the effect of immigration on the labour force gradually lessened and the rate of inflation eased (paragraph 6.1), wage rates in the manufacturing sector showed an

increase in real terms during the six months ending March

1982, but there has been no further increase since then

(paragraph 4.9). To a certain extent,

expected, given the poor performance of

2.1)

and the

manufacturing

spare

existence of some

sector (paragraph 5.3).

this was to be

exports (paragraph

capacity in the

in the

Salaries

2

/ tertiary

i

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