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Employment |
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The economy continued to grow at a healthy
pace, generating strong employment gains in the first quarter this year. |
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Preliminary estimates show that total
employment grew by 48,000 in the first quarter 2007. This is higher than
the gains of 45,000 in the same period a year ago, but seasonally lower
than 51,500 in the fourth quarter of 2006. |
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All major sectors added workers, led by
services with gains of 33,400 workers. Manufacturing posted increases in
employment of 9,500. |
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Driven by the pickup in building activities,
construction increased its workforce by 5,000, continuing the uptrend
that started two years ago. |
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Retrenchment |
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Preliminary findings show that 1,800 workers
were retrenched in the first quarter of 20071. This is
significantly lower than the 3,215 retrenched in the previous quarter
and 3,653 in the same quarter a year ago. |
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The majority of the workers were retrenched
from manufacturing (1,300), reflecting the on-going restructuring in the
electronics industry. Another 500 of the workers laid off came from the
services industries. |
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Unemployment |
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The seasonally adjusted overall unemployment
rate was 2.9% in March 2007, an increase from 2.6% in December 2006. The
resident unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) also rose to 4.0% in
March 2007 from 3.6% in December 2006. |
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The rise in unemployment rate reflects more
people entering the labour market, on the back of favourable economic
conditions2. |
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On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the
overall unemployment rate fell slightly from 2.6% in December 2006 to
2.5% in March 2007, as 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 3.4%, also lower than the 3.6% in
December 2006. An estimated 66,000 residents were unemployed in March
2007. The seasonally adjusted figure was 77,000. |
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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. A more detailed breakdown of
the preliminary estimates will be released in the Economic Survey of
Singapore, First Quarter 2007. |
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The above is a statistical release of the
Manpower Research and Statistics Department of the Ministry. |
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1 Data pertain to private sector
establishments (each with at least 25 employees) and the public sector.
2 The rise in unemployment rate is
driven by an increase in labour supply. The resident labour supply is
estimated to have increased by 16,300 in the first quarter of 2007. This
is higher than the average increase over the last two years, when
favourable economic conditions also led to an increase of resident
labour supply in the first quarter but by a lower average of 10,700. In
contrast, in earlier years the resident labour supply typically shrinks
in the first quarter from the seasonally high gains at year end - on
average, it shrank by 11,700 in the first quarter of 2001 to 2004. |
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More..... |
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Source:
www.mom.gov.sg Press Release
30 Apr 2007 |
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FrontPage Edition: Tue 1 May 2007
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