Retrenchments down sharply, unemployment stabilises in
Q2
SINGAPORE: The number of jobs lost in Singapore doubled to
12,400 in the second quarter of this year, according to the
Manpower Ministry's (MOM) preliminary estimates on
Friday.
This is the first time that employment has contracted for
two consecutive quarters since the 2003 economic downturn.
Manufacturing, again, bore the brunt of job losses, shedding 17 600
jobs.
Construction and services sectors increased their
workforce with 3,400 and 2,100 workers respectively, but the gains
were lower than in previous quarters.
On the other hand, retrenchments appeared to have eased. MOM said
4,800 workers were laid off and 700 contracts were terminated
prematurely in the second quarter.
This means 5,500 workers were made redundant during that period –
half the number compared to the previous quarter.
Overall unemployment rate also stabilised at 3.3 per cent in June,
unchanged from a quarter ago.
Among the resident labour force, the unemployment rate declined
from 4.8 per cent in March to 4.6 per cent in June.
The reason why job losses did not cause the unemployment rate to go
up is because the losses were a result of the completion of
contracts, and many foreign workers left Singapore as their
contracts were not renewed, hence they did not add to the
unemployment statistic.
However, both the manpower minister and labour chief said that it
is too soon to celebrate, and warned of a W-shaped recovery.
Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said: “Whether the third wave of
retrenchments will happen or when it will happen, we do not know.
This quarter, as well as next quarter, remain rather uncertain.
I've been speaking to some of the employers. They were able to see
the next two months, but they are not sure beyond that.”
NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say said: “In the labour movement,
it is important that we continue to work together to guard against
a possible W-shaped recovery. Why? Because despite recent rallies
in the financial market and property markets, I think there are
still mixed reactions about what is happening in our real
economy.
“The optimists will tell us that the worst is over, the pessimists
tell us that this rally is not sustainable. In fact, they will tell
us their assessment is that another bubble is forming. The
pragmatists say during an upturn, the global economy has a tendency
to overshoot the upturn.
“When you see the economy coming up, don't be too happy, there is
no way to tell exactly what is going to happen in the next six
months or so.”
MOM said in the difficult job market, more people are deferring job
searches to pursue training courses, including those supported
under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience
(SPUR).
An estimated 91,800 residents were unemployed in June.
- 938LIVE/CNA/so/yt