Singapore - Sudden drop in Singapore's quarterly jobless rate

SINGAPORE'S unemployment rate unexpectedly fell last quarter after companies in the services and construction industries increased hiring.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate eased to 2 per cent in the three months through September, from 2.1 per cent the previous quarter.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) attributed this to this year's batch of tertiary graduates securing employment and students who looked for work during the mid-year vacation returning to school.

In its Employment Situation in Third Quarter 2011 report released yesterday, MOM said that the bulk of employment gains came from services.

The sector added 21,900 jobs last quarter, up from the preceding quarter which recorded 20,200 jobs. Construction added 6,600 workers while manufacturing employment rose by 3,500, said the report, citing preliminary estimates.

Total employment grew by 32,300 jobs last quarter, compared with 24,800 in preceding quarter and 20,500 in the third quarter last year.

The report also said that layoffs of workers "remained low".

Preliminary estimates showed that 1,500 workers were retrenched and 500 had their contracts terminated prematurely.

This resulted in a total of 2,000 workers being made redundant in the third quarter of the year. The figure was about the same as the 2,020 redundancies in the preceding quarter.

An estimated 52,500 residents, including 45,700 Singaporeans, were unemployed in September. The seasonally adjusted figures were 61,300 for residents and 53,200 for Singaporeans.

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