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Source:
www.mom.gov.sg |
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EMPLOYMENT GREW STRONGLY BY 45,000 IN FIRST
QUARTER 2006 |
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With continued economic growth, employment
grew strongly by 45,000 in Q1 06, more than double the increase of
17,800 in the same period last year. |
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All the major sectors registered increases
in employment. The bulk of the employment gains continued to come from
the services sector (28,000). |
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Strong increases were also registered in
manufacturing (11,100) and construction (5,600), which saw much higher
job gains than the quarterly increases in 2005. |
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The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate
stabilised at 2.6% (overall) and 3.4% (resident1) in Mar 062,
unchanged from three months ago3. |
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There was also a notable improvement in the
long-term unemployment from a year ago. Some 10,100 residents or 18% of
the unemployed residents have been looking for work for at least 25
weeks in Mar 06, about half the 20,200 or 30% a year ago. |
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Correspondingly, the resident long-term
unemployment rate dropped sharply from 1.1% in Mar 05 to 0.5% in Mar 06,
the lowest in eight years for the March period. The mature and less
educated continued to form the bulk of the long-term unemployed. |
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However, retrenchment in private sector
establishments with at least 25 employees rose for the third
consecutive quarter. Some 3,511 workers were retrenched in Q1 06.
This is 9.7% higher than in the previous quarter (3,200) and 62%
more than in the same period last year (2,168), due to a number of
largescale retrenchment exercises in the electronics industry. |
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Private sector job openings numbered
21,2004 vacancies in Mar 06, which is 21% more than a year ago
(17,500). Compared with Dec 05 (19,800), this is 6.9% higher, but
after discounting for seasonal influences, private sector job
vacancies in Mar 06 was broadly unchanged from a quarter ago. |
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As both the seasonally adjusted
unemployment and job vacancies in Mar 06 were largely unchanged from
the previous quarter, the ratio of job vacancy to unemployed persons
held steady at 60p job openings for every 100 job seekers in Mar 06
(seasonally adjusted) from Dec 05. Nevertheless, this is a
significant improvement from the trough of 22 job openings for every
100 job seekers in Sep 03. |
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Labour turnover increased from a year
ago. Reflecting increased hiring, the average monthly recruitment
rate rose from 2.5% in Q1 05 to 2.9% in Q1 064. |
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The average monthly resignation rate
also rose over the same period from 2.1% to 2.2%, due to higher
resignation rate among professionals, managers, executives and
technicians from 1.5% to 1.7%. |
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Bolstered by strong economic growth,
productivity growth strengthened by 4.8% in Q1 06, from the previous
quarter¨s 3.3%. |
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In the first three months of 2006,
average nominal monthly earnings based on CPF records grew by 3.0%,
higher than the 2.2% in the previous quarter. After adjusting for
inflation, real earnings registered smaller increases of 1.6% and
1.1% respectively. |
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In summary, the labour market continued
to register strong growth in the first quarter this year on the back
of sustained growth in the economy. |
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Employment grew at a robust pace even as
retrenchment rose because more manufacturing jobs were lost to
lower-cost destinations. |
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Though more workers were added to the
economy, productivity growth continued to improve, driven by robust
output expansion. |
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1 Refers to Singapore citizens and
permanent residents.
2 Figures are preliminary.
3 Dec 05 seasonally adjusted unemployment
rates were revised upwards from an earlier reported 2.5% (overall)
and 3.3% (resident) to 2.6% (overall) and 3.4% (resident)
respectively as a result of annual updating of seasonal factors.
4 Data pertain to private sector
establishments each with at least 25 employees. |
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Source:
www.mom.gov.sg Press Release
15 Jun 2006 |
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FrontPage Edition: Thu 15 June 2006
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