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Source:
www.mom.gov.sg |
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EMPLOYMENT SITUATION IN FIRST QUARTER 2008: |
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Employment growth remains strong; Unemployment
up; Retrenchments unchanged |
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Employment |
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Employment continued to grow
strongly as the economy picked up pace in the first quarter of
2008. Preliminary estimates show that employment grew by 68,400
in the first quarter this year. This is higher than the increase
of 62,500 in the previous quarter and 49,400 in the first
quarter of 2007. |
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Services continued to lead the employment
gains, adding 42,900 workers in the first quarter of 2008. Driven by the
growth in building activities, construction increased its workforce by
13,400, continuing the rapid increase of the earlier quarters.
Manufacturing posted gains of 11,900. |
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Retrenchment |
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Preliminary findings show that 2,000 workers
were retrenched in the first quarter of 2008. This is about the same as
the number retrenched in the previous quarter (1,966) and in the same
quarter a year ago (1,964). |
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The majority of the workers retrenched
were from manufacturing (1,500), mainly from the electronics
industry. Another 500 workers were laid off from the services
industries. |
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Unemployment |
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Amid greater economic uncertainties, the
overall unemployment rate rose from a seasonally adjusted 1.7% in
December 2007[1] to 2.0% in March 08. The increase among the
resident labour force was from 2.4% to 2.9%. Notwithstanding the
rise, the unemployment rate in March 2008 is still lower than a year
ago when the rate was 2.8% (overall) and 3.8% (resident). |
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On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the
overall unemployment rate rose from 1.6% in December 2007 to 1.8% in
March 2008. Among the resident labour force, the non-adjusted
unemployment rate was 2.6% in March 2008, also higher than 2.3% in
December 2007. An estimated 49,500 residents were unemployed in
March 2008. The seasonally adjusted figure was 54,400. |
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More Information |
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Information on data sources and
coverage, as well as definitions of key concepts used in the report
is in the attached Explanatory Notes. 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 the Economic Survey of
Singapore, First Quarter 2008. |
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The above is a statistical release of
the Manpower Research and Statistics Department of the Ministry. |
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More..... |
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[1] Dec 07 unemployment
figures were revised from 1.6% to 1.7% (overall) and 2.3% to 2.4%
(residents), arising from annual updating of seasonal factors to
take into account the observations for the latest available year |
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Source:
www.mom.gov.sg Press Release 30
Apr 2008 |
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Related Article: |
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- Employment situation in 4th quarter 2007 |
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FrontPage Edition: Sat 3 May 2008
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