Unemployment rate rise slightly for Jan-March

17 Apr '08

3 min read

Nevertheless, the number of vacancies received by the Labour Department continued to increase during the period. In March 2008, the Department received 56 695 vacancies from the private sector, up 7.6% over the same period last year, and up 8.6% when compared to last month's. On average, the Department received over 2 900 vacancies per working day.

Commenting on the latest figures, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said, "The Government will closely monitor the potential impact on local employment arising from increasing challenges posed by the US economic slowdown and the volatility of the global financial markets.

"The Government will also continue to strengthen employment services of various public sector agencies and enhance collaboration with employers and non-governmental organisations in seeking to promote self-reliance through work," he continued.

Further Information:
The unemployment and underemployment statistics were compiled from the findings of the continuous General Household Survey.

The survey for January - March 2008 covered a sample of some 23 000 households or 73 000 persons, selected in accordance with a scientifically designed sampling scheme to represent the population of Hong Kong.

Data on labour force characteristics were obtained from the survey by interviewing each member aged 15 or over in the sampled households.

In the survey, the definitions used inmeasuring unemployment and underemployment follow closely those recommended by the International Labour Organisation.

Starting from the next press release to be announced on May 19, 2008, seasonal adjustment of the unemployment rate will be performed using the X-12 ARIMA method to replace the current X-11 ARIMA method. X-12 ARIMA method is an update to the X-11 ARIMA method with enhanced modelling and diagnostic capabilities. The X-12 ARIMA has now been a standard method used by statistical offices for performing seasonal adjustment of statistical series in many countries/territories.

Census and Statistics Department

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