Singapore Jobless Rate Dropped To 2.1 % In Third Quarter,2010

16 Dec 2010

As per a statement by Ministry of Manpower, the forecast of 24,100, Singapore added 20,500 jobs in this quarter. This resulted in final unemployment rate drop to a seasonally adjusted 2.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2010. A bulk of the employment gains came from services sector and there has been a slight fall in manufacturing sector.

The unemployment rate fell to 3.1 per cent in the third quarter versus 3.2 per cent in both the second and the first quarter, among the resident labour force.

According to a report, there were 50,200 job vacancies as of September. Average wages before adjusting for inflation rose 5.4 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier. Also, there has been a reduction in the number of jobs from 2,280 in second quarter to 1,930 in third quarter of 2010.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell slightly to 2.1 per cent (overall) and 3.1 per cent (resident) in September 2010 from 2.2 per cent (overall) and 3.2 per cent (resident) in both March and June 2010.

MOM said that this was a 'significant improvement' from a year ago, when unemployment peaked at 3.3 per cent (overall) and 4.8 per cent (resident) during the economic downturn.