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Employment |
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Preliminary estimates show that employment
grew by 57,800 in the third quarter this year. This was lower than the
gains of 71,400 in the preceding quarter and 58,600 in the third quarter
of 2007. |
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With a strong pipeline of building
projects, construction employment grew strongly by 16,400 in the
third quarter of 2008, but lower than the record 22,400 gains in
the previous quarter. |
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Amid weaker external demand, employment in
manufacturing grew by 4,900, half the increase in the previous quarter.
Services broadly held steady, adding 36,200 workers, lower than the
gains of 38,300 in the previous quarter but higher than 34,100 in the
third quarter of 2007. |
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Retrenchment |
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Preliminary estimates show that 2,000
workers were retrenched in the third quarter of 2008, up from 1,798
in the previous quarter and 1,827 in the third quarter of 2007. |
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Most of the retrenched workers came from
manufacturing which laid off 1,500 workers, mainly from the electronics
industry. Another 500 workers were laid off from the services
industries. |
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Unemployment |
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After rising for two consecutive quarters,
the overall unemployment rate remained at a seasonally adjusted 2.2% in
September 2008, unchanged from June 2008 but higher than 1.7% in
September 2007. Among residents, the unemployment rate rose to a
seasonally adjusted 3.3% in September 2008 from 3.1% in June 2008 and
2.4% a year ago, amid a rise in resident labour supply. |
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On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the
overall unemployment rate declined from 2.8% in June 2008 to 1.9% in
September 2008, as students who looked for work during the mid-year
school vacation returned to school and this year's batch of tertiary
graduates who looked for jobs in the earlier quarter started to
secure employment. |
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Among the resident labour force, the
non-adjusted unemployment rate was 2.8% in September 2008, also
lower than 4.0% in the previous quarter. An estimated 56,000
residents were unemployed in September 2008. The seasonally adjusted
figure was 65,400. |
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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.
A more detailed breakdown of the preliminary estimates will be
released in the Economic Survey of Singapore, Third 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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Upcoming Publications |
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The Ministry's Manpower Research and
Statistics Department will be releasing the report on the Labour
Market, Third Quarter 2008 on 15 December 2008. |
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More..... (Tables) |
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Source:
www.mom.gov.sg Press release 31
Oct 2008 |
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Employment Situation in Third
Quarter 2008