SINGAPORE: Unemployment in Singapore declined in the second quarter of this year,
reversing the slight increase a quarter ago, according to the Ministry of
Manpower (MOM).
The ministry attributed the drop
in unemployment to more jobs being created in the second quarter, while layoffs
eased for the second successive quarter.
These were the key findings from
the "Labour Market, Second Quarter 2012" report released by the
Ministry of Manpower's Research and Statistics Department on Friday.
Total employment grew by 31,700
in the second quarter, higher than the gains of 24,800 in the same period last
year and 27,200 in the first quarter of 2012.
Cumulatively, employment rose by
58,900 in the first half of 2012, compared with the increase of 53,100 in the
corresponding period of 2011.
Services contributed 17,300 jobs,
the majority of employment gains in the second quarter of 2012. But the figure
was lower than the same period last year where there was a gain of 19,300 jobs
in the services industry.
For the seventh successive
quarter, growth in construction workforce accelerated, supported by public
infrastructure projects.
In manufacturing, employment grew
by 4,700, as gains led by petroleum, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors
outnumbered the declines in the electronic, computer and optical products
sectors.
MOM said amid the strong
employment creation, unemployment declined over the second quarter, after the
slight rise in the first quarter.
The seasonally adjusted overall
unemployment rate dipped over the quarter by 0.1 per cent point to 2.0 per cent
in June, erasing the increase in March.
The jobless rate for residents
and citizens declined by 0.2 per cent point to 2.8 per cent and 3.0 per cent
respectively.
The long-term unemployment rate
was unchanged over the year at 0.7 per cent.
Some 15,700, or 20 per cent, of
the unemployed residents had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks in
June 2012, similar to 15,500 or 19 per cent a year ago.
Layoffs fell for the second
successive quarter, after rising in the fourth quarter of 2011.
2,210 workers were made redundant
in the second quarter of 2012, down from 2,600 in the first quarter of 2012 and
3,250 in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Based on CPF records, three in
five residents laid off in the first quarter of 2012 found a job by June 2012.
This re-entry rate into
employment within six months of redundancy rose from the 50 per cent
experienced by the previous cohort in March 2012.
Amid the subdued global economic
outlook, the number of job vacancies declined over the year by 15 per cent to
47,300 in June 2012.
After adjusting for seasonality,
job openings fell over the quarter by 8.9 per cent to 45,600. This was the
second consecutive quarter of decline after job openings hit a high of 55,400
in December 2011.
Adecco's head of marketing and
communications, Ian Grund, believes companies are taking their time to hire the
best.
"Companies are still hiring
and that is why we are seeing a growth in the number of people at work. They
are still trying to identify the best talents and in many organisations today
where the economy is growing or in challenging times there really have to make
sure they've got the very best people when the market picks back up."
The report also showed that
labour productivity dropped 1.9 per cent between April to June, the third
consecutive quarter of decline.
Earlier this week, Acting
Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin had expressed concerns about Singapore's low
productivity growth rates.
This is because employment has
been growing faster than Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The government had forecast GDP
growth of between 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent this year.
Productivity is calculated by
dividing GDP by the number of workers.
However, Associate Professor
Randolph Tan, a labour economist from SIM University, remains optimistic.
"It is the way productivity
is calculated in these reports. There is no intrinsic reason, as far as I can
see, why Singapore's productivity performance cannot actually improve in the
long run.
"I think one of the main
reasons why our productivity performance has been poorer is because we've seen
rapid changes in the economy and it takes time for workers to settle down and
improve their performance at the particular jobs they are doing."
Assoc Prof Tan expects employment
creation to increase for the rest of the year.
He said: "The main thing
that appears to be driving the labour market now is not the demand side
prospects, but the fear by employers that the tightening labour market will
actually leave them with insufficient employees to meet their demand.
"I think that's going to
drive the labour market for the rest of the year unless, of course, we see a
significant deterioration in the global economic situation."
Since 2010, Singapore has set
itself an annual productivity growth target of two per cent to three per cent.
Saifulbahri Ismail
- CNA/xq/al/fa
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