ENG-2002 — Page 88

THE ECONOMY

3.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2002, then declined to 2.9 per cent in both the second and third quarters, but edged up again to 3.1 per cent in the fourth quarter (Chart 13).

Chart 13

8.0

7.5

7.0

6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0

4.5

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

Unemployment and underemployment rates

Per cent

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate

Underemployment rate

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 QI Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

1997

| 1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

The labour market remained generally slack in 2002. Despite a gradual decline in the latter part of the year, the unemployment rate for 2002 as a whole was distinctly higher than that in 2001. The underemployment rate also edged up during the year.

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For persons in employment, work intensity was high. The proportion of employed persons working for 50 hours or more per week rose visibly, from 35 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2001 to 40 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2002, as did the proportion of employed persons working for 60 hours or more per week, from 21 per cent to 24 per cent. This reflected greater work effort being exerted by the employed workforce in general, as the corporate sector underwent further staff consolidation in 2002. Taking all the employed persons together, the median hours of work stayed at 48 hours per week for most of the year.

Total employment as enumerated from households bounced up towards the end of 2002, to a year-on-year increase of 0.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, having worsened from a 1.0 per cent decrease in the first quarter. Total labour force had a faster growth in 2002, with the year-on-year increase picking up to 2.0 per cent in the fourth. quarter, from 1.7 per cent in the first quarter. The swing in the growth rate differential between total labour force and total employment pointed to a relative narrowing in the overall manpower resource balance, leading to a lower unemployment rate in the latter part of 2002 (Chart 14).