Singapore’s unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 1.6 per cent in the fourth quarter, which was the lowest in a decade, Ministry of Manpower preliminary data showed on Thursday, helped by job gains in the services and construction sectors.
Employment rose by 64,200 new jobs in the three months to the end of December, the ministry said, bringing jobs creation for the whole year to 236,600.
The services sector created the most number of jobs in the fourth quarter, adding 39,500 positions. The construction sector added 13,200 jobs, and the manufacturing sector created 11,000 positions.
The share of new jobs going to local Singaporeans dropped to 39 percent in 2007, from 52 per cent the previous year, the data showed, reflecting the country’s aggressive immigration policy that aims for a third increase in population.
Foreigners made up one-third of Singapore’s workforce last year and the jobless rate eased to a 10-year low in the fourth quarter.
Foreign employment rose by a new high of 144,500 last year and as of December there were 900,800 workers from overseas, accounting for 33 per cent of the 2.73 million people employed, the Ministry of Manpower said in a press release.
Singapore’s export-driven economy unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter - the first time since 2003 - as manufacturing weakened on the back of slowing economic growth in the United States, the country’s top export market by country, preliminary estimates from the government showed.
The Singapore government expects economic growth to slow to 4.5-6.5 per cent this year from last year’s estimated 7.5 per cent.
Singapore reports unemployment on a quarterly basis. — REUTERS, AFP
Source : Business Times - 31 Jan 2008
