Thus, on average about 1.60 million of labor force have requested for employment every year. In other words, on average the additional supply of labor force per year has been 1.60 million.3)
Secondly, the employed population of the three provinces was 16.486 million in 1990. The employment condition under the state-ownership policy (through government agencies, corporations, etc.), mean that a certain number of the employed are virtually excess labor, and the number of such potential unemployed is estimated to be 3.30 million.
The problem of excess labor will become increasingly critical as the economic development in the three provinces promotes conversion of industrial structure and urbanization, and as the diffusion of agricultural automation pushes up productivity.
3. Problems in Employment of Labor Force in the three Northeast Provinces
As mentioned above, the situation regarding the labor force in the three northeast provinces is that the resources are abundant in quantity, but of low quality. Such a labor force, together with an irrational industrial structure, in the three provinces has more or less impacts upon their economic development.
The large-scale annual increases in the labor supply need to be coped with by an appropriate number of workplaces. For example, the total productive-age population of the three provinces will reach 74.07 million, representing an increase of 9,733,000 from the 1990 level, or an average of 974,000 per annum. Assuming the utilization rate of the 1990 labor resources (81.9%) is maintained, the increased supply of labor force will be 60,663,000-strong in 2000.
