[Archive] Labour statistics

LEGCO QUESTION NO. 8(WRITTEN REPLY)

Date of Meeting: 28 February 2001

Asked by : Hon LEE Cheuk Yan

Replied by : SEM

Question :

Regarding the employment statistics compiled by the Census & Statistics Department, will the Government inform this Council of the respective numbers of employed persons (excluding unpaid family works, live-in domestic helpers and those who have worked less than 35 hours during the seven days preceding the interview as a result of taking vacation) in each of the past three years, broken down by the categories in the form appended below?

Employed persons(in thousands)
Gender/ Number of hours worked	Monthly employment earnings
Female	less than $5,000	$5,000 to $7,499	$7,500 to $9,999	$10,000 to $19,999	$20,000	Sub-Total
less than 35
35 to 49
50 to 59
60 Over
Sub-Total

Employed persons(in thousands)
Gender/ Number of hours worked	Monthly employment earnings
Male	less than $5,000	$5,000 to $7,499	$7,500 to $9,999	$10,000 to $19,999	$20,000	Sub-Total
less than 35
35 to 49
50 to 59
60 Over
Sub-Total

Employed persons(in thousands)
Number of hours worked	Monthly employment earnings
Number of hours worked	less than $5,000	$5,000 to $7,499	$7,500 to $9,999	$10,000 to $19,999	$20,000	Total
less than 35
35 to 49
50 to 59
60 Over
Total

Reply:

Madam President,

The employment statistics for the fourth quarter of 1998, 1999 and 2000 are shown in the format requested in the tables at the Annex. It is evident from the statistics that :-

the number of workers with monthly employment earnings of $10,000 and above increased steadily, from 1 612 700 in the fourth quarter of 1998 to 1 779 500 in the fourth quarter of 2000. The respective share in total employment went up from 57.3% to 59.5%. The figures show that this particular group of people generally benefited from the increased demand for higher-skill and better experienced workers over the past few years; and

the number of low income workers with monthly employment earnings below $5,000 also increased, from 183 800 in the fourth quarter of 1998 to 205 400 in the fourth quarter of 1999, largely due to the impact of the regional financial turmoil. This rising trend reversed in the fourth quarter of 2000, with the number of workers earning less than $5,000 dropping to 200,400. Their corresponding share in total employment rose from 6.5% in the fourth quarter of 1998 to 7.1% in the fourth quarter of 1999, and then dropped back to 6.7% in the fourth quarter of 2000.