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|
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Preliminary estimates show strong employment
growth of 27,700 in the second quarter of 2005. The employment increase
is significantly higher than in the first quarter of 2005 (17,800) and
the second quarter last year (10,900). |
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All the major sectors saw higher employment
growth compared with the preceding quarter and the same quarter in 2004.
Both the manufacturing and services sectors registered strong employment
gains of 8,900 and 15,200 respectively. Construction employment also
rose by 3,400, reaffirming the turnaround observed in the first quarter
this year. |
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Retrenchment |
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Preliminary findings from a survey of
private sector establishments each with at least 25 employees show that
1,900 workers were retrenched in the second quarter of 2005. This was a
reduction of 12% from the quarter before and 7.5% in the same period a
year ago. |
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The manufacturing sector laid off 1,200 or
63% of the total workers retrenched in the quarter. The remaining 700 or
37% of the layoffs were contributed by the services sector. |
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Unemployment |
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Based on preliminary estimates from the
General Household Survey conducted by the Department of Statistics, the
seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate was 3.4% in June 05. |
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Among the resident labour force, the rate
was 4.5%. This is lower than a revised 3.6% (overall) and 4.7%
(resident) in the same period a year ago, but is marginally higher than
3.3% (overall) and 4.4% (resident) in March 2005. |
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The unemployment data for past periods
obtained from the Labour Force Survey have been revised to align with
the methodology used in the General Household Survey so as to improve
the accuracy and comparability of the data. |
|
Details of the change in methodology and the
time series of the data before and after the revision are at
Annex 1. |
|
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the
overall unemployment rate rose from 2.8% in March 2005 to 4.3% in June
2005, reflecting the increased job seekers as this year¡¯s batch of
tertiary graduates enter the labour market. |
|
Nevertheless, the rate was slightly lower
than 4.4% in June 2004. Among the resident labour force, the
non-adjusted rate was 5.6% in June 2005. |
|
An estimated 97,200 residents were
unemployed in June 2005. The seasonally adjusted figure was 78,900. |
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For More Information |
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For information on data source 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 2nd Quarter 2005, Economic
Survey of Singapore. |
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More.....
(Tables) |
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Overall Unemployment Rates (Before & After
Revision) March 1992 - June 2005 |
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Resident Unemployment Rates (Before & After
Revision) March 1992 - June 2005 |
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Source: www.mom.gov.sg Press Release 8 Aug
2005 |
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Employment Situation in 2nd Quarter 2005
