49,400 new jobs in first quarter, job vacancies at
32,200: MOM
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 15 June 2007 1053 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore's labour market continued to tighten as demand
for manpower rose in the first three months of this year, said the
Manpower Ministry in its quarterly labour market report.
And as employers hired to cope with current and anticipated output,
productivity has declined and wage pressures have continued to
rise.
For the January-March period this year, total employment grew by
49,400.
Although this fell below the seasonally high gains of 51,500 in the
October-December 2006 period, it surpassed the 45,000 in the first
quarter of 2006.
The buoyant economy in the first quarter of this year also
generated a large number of job vacancies, which hit 32,200 in
March - 30 percent more than a year ago.
But with the strengthened employment prospects, unemployment has
also gone up.
According to the Ministry, the total unemployment rate in March was
2.9 percent, compared to 2.6 percent in December last year.
Among residents - Singaporeans and permanent residents - the
jobless figure was 4 percent, up from 3.6 percent in December
2006.
This was the result of more people entering the labour market on
the back of favourable economic conditions.
As for retrenchments, the report said 1,964 workers were laid off
in the first quarter of this year, fewer than the 3,215 in the
previous quarter.
CPF records showed that nearly 59% of those retrenched by the
private sector in the last quarter of 2006 found jobs by March this
year. - CNA/ir
