 |
Source:
www.mom.gov.sg
|
LABOUR MARKET, SECOND QUARTER 2007: |
The strong labour market performance last year
has continued into the first half of this year |
|
With sustained strong economic growth,
employment creation hit an unprecedented high. At the same time, there
was a significant fall in unemployment. |
Labour cost pressures continued to rise but
at a more moderated pace as productivity improved slightly, after
declining in the preceding two quarters. |
Total employment grew by an all-time
quarterly high of 64,400 in Q2 07, surpassing the increase of 49,400 in
Q1 07 and 36,400 in Q2 06. This brought employment growth in the first
half of 2007 to 113,800, compared with 81,500 in the same period last
year. |
With the robust employment gains, the
seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate declined significantly to
2.3% in Jun 07 from 2.9% in Mar 07. The resident1
unemployment rate also fell to 3.1% from 4.0% over the same period. An
estimated 76,100 (or 60,200 after seasonal adjustment) residents were
unemployed in Jun 07. |
Fewer residents had been looking for work
for 25 weeks or more in Jun 07. Numbering 12,100 or 16% of the
unemployed residents, the number and share of the long-term unemployed
came down from 16,600 or 20% a year ago. They formed 0.6% of the
resident labour force, less than 0.9% a year ago. |
The number of retrenched workers fell to a
low of 1,9182 in Q2 07. This was marginally below the 1,964 retrenched
in Q1 07 and significantly lower than the 3,263 laid off in Q2 06. |
Among the residents retrenched from
the private sector in Q1 07, CPF records showed that 70% of them
were re-employed by Jun 07 (i.e. within 6 months after
retrenchment). This was a substantial improvement from 59% in Mar
07 and also higher than 69% in Jun 06. |
Continuing the upward trend, the
number of job vacancies rose to 37,400 in Jun 07, which was 16%
more than a quarter ago (32,200). On a year-on-year basis, the
openings registered a gain of 18%. |
Wages continued to rise amid the
tightening of the labour market. Average (mean) monthly earnings
based on CPF records rose by 8.5% over the year in Q2 07, up from
5.5% growth in the previous quarter. After adjusting for
inflation, real earnings increased by 7.5% and 5.0% respectively. |
The increase was the highest
registered since the last economic boom in 2000 when earnings rose
by 8.9% on nominal and 7.5% in real terms. |
With the robust output growth slightly
outpacing the strong employment expansion, labour productivity
rose marginally by 0.4% over the year in Q2 07. This ended the
decline in productivity recorded in the two preceding quarters
(-1.3% in Q1 07 and -0.7% in Q4 06). |
The improvement in productivity helped
to moderate the increase in overall unit labour cost (ULC) to 5.7%
over the year in Q2 07, after a 5.9% increase in the previous
quarter. In the manufacturing sector, the ULC rose by 3.1%,
significantly lower than 7.1% increase in Q1 07. |
In summary, the strong labour market
performance last year has continued into the first half of this
year. |
Employment gains continued to be
robust. Unemployment fell sharply. Retrenchments also fell and
re-employment improved. As the labour market tightened, wage gains
continued to accelerate. |
Consequently, cost pressures continued
to rise but at a more moderated pace as productivity improved
slightly after declining in the preceding two quarters. |
For More Information |
The report is available online on the
Ministry of Manpower’s website at
http://www.mom.gov.sg/mrsd/publication. |
1 Refers to
Singapore citizens and permanent residents.
2 Data pertain to private
sector establishments (each with at least 25 employees) and the
public sector. |
Source:
www.mom.gov.sg Press Release
14 Sep 2007 |
Related Article: |
-
Singapore Labour Market 2006 |
 |
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