Singapore Employment Situation In Third Quarter 2010

source: MOM Press Release 29 Oct 2010  

Employment

1. Total employment is estimated to have grown by 24,100 in the third quarter of 2010. The increase was about the same as in the previous quarter (24,900) but lower than in the first quarter of 2010 (36,500). This brought total employment growth in the first 9 months of 2010 to 85,500, compared to a flat growth of 100 in the corresponding period in 2009 due to the global economic downturn.
2. The employment creation came primarily from services, which added 24,100 workers in the third quarter of 2010. Construction employment rose marginally (100) due to the completion of major building projects earlier in the year. Manufacturing employment continued to fall (-400), though the decline eased from the previous quarter (-2,300).
   
                                                 Table 1: Employment

   	Employment Change					Employment Level as at Sep 2010P
   	3Q 09	4Q 09	1Q 10	2Q 10	3Q 10P
   Total*	14,000	37,500	36,500	24,900	24,100	3,075,500
   Manufacturing	-6,400	700	3,100	-2,300	-400	543,000
   Construction	7,400	4,600	-400	2,000	100	386,800
   Services	12,700	31,500	33,400	25,400	24,100	2,124,500

   ^P: Preliminary estimates
   *: Total includes agriculture, fishing, quarrying, utilities and sewerage & waste management
   Data may not add up due to rounding
   
   Retrenchment and Redundancy
3. Based on preliminary estimates, 1,400 workers were retrenched and 500 had their contracts terminated prematurely, resulting in a total of 1,900 workers made redundant in the third quarter of 2010. This was lower than the 2,280 workers made redundant in the previous quarter.
   
                                              Table 2.1: Redundancy
   
   

   	3Q 09	4Q 09	1Q 10	2Q 10	3Q 10P
   Redundancy	2,470	2,220	2,400	2,280	1,900
   Retrenchment	2,110	1,980	1,800	2,010	1,400
   Early Release of Contract Workers	350	250	600	270	500

   ^P: Preliminary estimates
   Data may not add up due to rounding

4. With the pick up in the economy, redundancy in manufacturing fell to 900 from 1,220 in the previous quarter. Services laid off 900 workers, about the same as the previous quarter. Construction displaced 100 workers, compared with 150 in the second quarter of 2010.
   
                                     Table 2.2: Redundancy by Sector
   
   

   	3Q 09	4Q 09	1Q 10	2Q 10	3Q 10P
   Total*	2,470	2,220	2,400	2,280	1,900
   Manufacturing	840	860	1,120	1,220	900
   Construction	140	250	340	150	100
   Services	1,460	1,080	940	920	900

      ^P: Preliminary estimates
     *: Total includes agriculture, fishing, quarrying, utilities and sewerage & waste management
   Data may not add up due to rounding
   
   Unemployment
5. The seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate fell slightly to 2.1% in September 2010 from 2.2% in June 2010. Among the resident labour force, the unemployment rate was 3.1%, also down by 0.1%-point from 3.2% in June 2010. Both rates represented significant improvements from 3.3% (overall) and 4.8% (resident) a year ago.
   
                                            Table 3: Unemployment Rate
   
   

   	Sep 09	Dec 09	Mar 10	Jun 10	Sep 10P
   Seasonally Adjusted
   Overall (%)	3.3	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.1
   Resident (%)	4.8	3.3	3.2	3.2	3.1
   Non-Seasonally Adjusted
   Overall (%)	2.9	2.1	2.1	2.8	1.8
   Resident (%)	4.1	2.9	3.1	4.1	2.6

   ^P: Preliminary estimates
   
6. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rates in September 2010 (overall: 1.8%, resident: 2.6%) were substantially lower than in June 2010 (overall: 2.8%, resident: 4.1%), as students who looked for work during the mid-year school vacation have returned to school and this year’s tertiary graduates face relatively less difficulty securing jobs amid the economic recovery . An estimated 54,200 residents were unemployed in September 2010. The seasonally adjusted figure was 63,100.
   
   More Information
7. Information on data sources and coverage as well as definitions of key concepts used in the report can be found in the attached Explanatory Notes. The preliminary data estimates are available online at the Ministry of Manpower's Statistics and Publication Page. A more detailed breakdown of the preliminary estimates will be released in the Economic Survey of Singapore, Third Quarter 2010.
8. The above is a statistical release of the Manpower Research and Statistics Department of the Ministry.
   
   Upcoming Publications
9. The Ministry’s Manpower Research and Statistics Department will be releasing the full report on the Labour Market, Third Quarter 2010 on 15 December 2010.

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Explanatory Notes

Employment

Source
Administrative records. The self-employed component is estimated from the Labour Force Survey.

Coverage
The employment data comprises all persons in employment i.e. employees and the self-employed. However, it excludes males who are serving their 2-year full-time national service liability in the Singapore Armed Forces, Police and Civil Defence Forces.

Data on the number of local (also known as resident) employees are compiled from the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board’s administrative records of active contributors defined as local employees who have at least one CPF contribution paid for him/her. A local (also known as resident) employee is any Singapore citizen or Permanent Resident who is employed by an employer under a contract of service or other agreement entered into in Singapore. Every local employee and his/her employer are required to make monthly contributions to the CPF which is a compulsory savings scheme to provide workers financial security in old age and helps meet the needs of healthcare, home-ownership, family protection, and asset enhancement.

Data on foreigners working in Singapore are compiled from administrative records of foreigners on valid work passes issued by the Ministry of Manpower. Foreigners can work in Singapore only if they have valid work passes issued by the Ministry of Manpower.

The number of self-employed residents is estimated from the Labour Force Survey. The self-employed comprises persons aged 15 years and over who are own account workers, employers or contributing family workers.

Concepts and Definitions
Employment change refers to the difference in the employment level at the end of the reference period compared with the end of the preceding period.

Uses and Limitations
This data series allows users to identify individual industries where employment is growing or stagnating.
An analysis of the data over time also helps in understanding the impact of cyclical and structural changes in the economy on the demand for workers. Detailed data are published in the quarterly Labour Market Report.

The change in employment over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment i.e. net of inflows and outflows of workers. Users should not mistake an increase in employment as gross job creation.

Unemployment

Source
Labour Force Survey

Coverage
The survey covers private households on the main island of Singapore. It excludes workers living in construction worksites, dormitories and workers’ quarters at the workplace and persons commuting from abroad to work in Singapore. To achieve full coverage of the labour force in Singapore, data on residents (also known as locals, i.e. Singapore citizens and permanent residents) from the survey are combined with foreign workforce data compiled from work passes issued by the Ministry of Manpower.

Concepts and Definitions
Unemployed persons refer to persons aged 15 years and over who were without work during the survey reference period but were available for work and were actively looking for a job. They include persons who were not working but were taking steps to start their own business or taking up a new job after the reference period.

Unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons to the total number of economically active persons (i.e. employed and unemployed persons) aged 15 years and over.

Uses and Limitations
The unemployment rate is probably the best-known measure of the labour market. It measures unutilised labour supply and is useful in the study of the economic cycle as it is closely related to the economic fluctuations.

Unemployment can have frictional, cyclical and structural elements. As it takes time for job seekers and employers to find a match, there is always a certain level of frictional unemployment due to people changing jobs and from new entrants looking for work for the first time. Unemployment can also be structural e.g. arising from a mismatch between the job seekers and the job openings available. With structural unemployment, even if job vacancies and job seekers coexist in the labour market, they may not be matched over a long period of time. Finally, unemployment can be cyclical. This occurs when there is a general decline in demand for manpower as aggregate demand for goods and services fall in the event of a cyclical downturn. Unlike structural and frictional unemployment where the problem is in matching job openings with job seekers, cyclical unemployment occurs when there are not enough jobs to go around.

Unemployment can vary due to changes in demand or supply of manpower. It can decline if more people succeed in securing employment or when the unemployed persons stop to look for a job and leave the labour force either temporarily (e.g. to take up training) or permanently (e.g. to retire).
Conversely, unemployment may rise due to increase in labour supply from new entrants or re-entrants to the labour market. It will also rise if more people quit their jobs to look for alternative employment or if there is an increase in layoffs.

Retrenchment and Redundancy

Source
Labour Market Survey

Coverage
Before 2006, the survey covers private sector establishments each with at least 25 employees. From 2006 onwards, the survey also includes the public sector comprising government ministries, organs of state and statutory boards.

Concepts and Definitions
Retrenchment refers to the termination of employment of a permanent employee due to redundancy. In the public sector, it includes those who left service under the Special Resignation Scheme that allows redundant non-deployable Civil Service or Statutory Board employees to leave their organisations with compensation.

Early release of contract workers refers to employees on term contracts which were terminated prematurely because of redundancy.

Redundancy refers to an employee made redundant due to retrenchment or early release of contract.

Uses and Limitations
Data on retrenchment and redundancy are useful in the analysis of re-structuring or ailing industries. Detailed data are published in the quarterly Labour Market Report.

The number of persons retrenched or made redundant (flow) should not be confused with persons unemployed (stock). Not all persons retrenched or made redundant will be unemployed as some will be re-employed or decide to leave the workforce.