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Employment |
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Employment gains moderated in the first quarter of
2005 amid a slowdown in economic growth. Preliminary estimates showed that
total employment increased by 11,600, lower than the 13,700 in the same period
last year. |
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There was however a sharper slowdown in employment
growth compared with the seasonally high job gains of 32,700 in the fourth
quarter of 2004. |
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Although the services-producing sector still
contributed a significant share of the job gains, the employment growth for
the sector at 6,500 was substantially lower than the 11,400 in the first
quarter of 2004.
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Growth in manufacturing employment also declined
to 4,400, after posting gains of more than 6,000 in each of the four quarters
last year. |
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On the other hand, the fall in construction
employment appeared to have bottomed out with employment rising by 700 after
shrinking for 17 consecutive quarters. |
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Retrenchment |
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Preliminary findings from a survey of private
sector establishments each with at least 25 employees showed that 2,000
workers were retrenched in the first quarter of 2005. This was a reduction of
38% from the previous period and about one-third lower than in the same period
a year ago. |
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The manufacturing sector laid off 1,200 or
three-fifths of the total workers retrenched. The remaining 800 or two-fifths
of the layoffs were contributed by the services sector. |
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Unemployment |
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With the slowdown in employment growth, the
seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate was slightly higher at 3.9% in
March 2005 compared to 3.7% in December 2004. The corresponding figure for
resident1 unemployment was 4.4%, up from December’s 4.0%. |
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Despite the rise, unemployment in March 2005 was
still lower than in the same period last year (overall unemployment was 4.5%
and resident unemployment was 5.2% in March 2004). |
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On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the
unemployment rate fell from 3.9% in December 2004 to 3.3% in March 2005 when
students seeking year-end vacation jobs returned to their studies. |
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Among the resident labour force, the non-adjusted
unemployment rate was 3.7%. An estimated 68,800 residents were unemployed in
March 2005. The seasonally adjusted figure was 81,300. |
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For More Information |
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For information on data sources and coverage, as
well as definitions of key concepts used in the report, please refer to the
attached
Explanatory Notes. |
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The preliminary data estimates are available
online at the Ministry of Manpower’s website:
http://www.mom.gov.sg/mrsd/publication. |
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A more detailed breakdown of the preliminary
estimates will be released in mid-May 2005 in the Economic Survey of
Singapore. |
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More..... |
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1 Comprises
Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents |
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Source:
Ministry of Manpower Press Release
29 Apr 2005 |
Employment Situation in 1st Quarter 2005
