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Source:
www.mom.gov.sg |
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LABOUR MARKET, THIRD QUARTER
2006: |
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Record employment creation
amid moderate wage gains |
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Amid the sustained economic expansion,
employment creation hit an all-time high increasing by 43,000 in
Q3 06, much higher than the 28,500 in the same period last year. |
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Cumulatively in the first nine months
this year, the economy added 124,500 workers, surpassing the gains
of 113,300 for the whole of 2005. This employment creation is the
highest ever recorded1. |
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The seasonally adjusted overall
unemployment rate was 2.7% in Sep 06, a marked improvement from
3.2% a year ago and slightly lower than 2.8% in Jun 06. |
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The resident 2 unemployment
rate held steady at 3.6% from three months ago, but is
significantly lower than 4.2% in Sep 05 and the high of 6.0% in
Sep 03. |
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An estimated 60,700 residents were
unemployed in Sep 06 (non-seasonally adjusted). |
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One in five or 12,400 of the
unemployed residents had been looking for work for at least 25
weeks, lower than 14,900 or 21% a year ago. These long-term
unemployed formed 0.7% of the resident labour force in Sep 06, an
improvement from 0.8% in Sep 05 to a six-year low for September
periods. |
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In Q3 06, 2,435 workers3 were
retrenched, an improvement from the previous quarter (3,211) and
Q3 05 (2,810). This brings the total number retrenched in the
first nine months this year to 9,157 workers. |
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Buoyed by the strong economy, CPF
records show that the re-employment rate (within 6 months of
retrenchment) improved to 74% in Sep 06, the highest in slightly
over a decade. |
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Private sector establishments each
with at least 25 employees reported 25,700 job vacancies in Sep
06. Although this is a slight decrease from the previous quarter
(27,500), it is 28% higher than a year ago (20,100). |
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The bulk of the job openings continued
to come from the services industries, which accounted for 16,300
or 63% of total vacancies. Manufacturing contributed another 7,800
or 30% of the openings and construction, the remaining 1,200 or
4.9%. |
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Average monthly nominal earnings based
on CPF records grew by 2.8% over the year in Q3 06, down from 3.8%
in Q2 06. |
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On average, nominal earnings rose by
3.2% in the first nine months this year compared with 3.9% in the
corresponding period last year and 8.0% during the last economic
boom in 2000. Nevertheless, the year-end bonus payout could be
higher this year as more employers seek to reward their employees
through bonuses rather than basic salary. |
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In summary, the sustained economic
expansion has created record number of jobs. Unemployment has also
eased substantially from the high in 2003. While large wage
increases have been reported in the media for selected occupations
in demand, at the overall level, the rise in monthly earnings has
so far been moderate. |
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For More Information |
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The report is available online on the
Ministry of Manpower¨s website at
http://www.mom.gov.sg/mrsd/publication. |
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1 Data compilation started from late 70s.
2 Refers to Singapore citizens and permanent
residents.
3 Data pertain to private sector establishments
each with at least 25 employees. |
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Source:
www.mom.gov.sg Press Release
15 Dec 2006 |
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FrontPage Edition: Sat 16 December 2006
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