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01-08-2006, 12:31 AM
SINGAPORE : A record 81,500 jobs were created in the first half of this year, about two-thirds more compared to the same period last year.
Employment grew across the board in all major sectors, but the unemployment rate edged up from 2.6 percent in March to 2.9 percent in June, mainly due to an increase in the number of job hunters.
A total of 36,500 jobs were created in the second quarter, less than the record 45,000 earlier this year.
But the labour market continued to grow, with most of the jobs - 24,200 - coming from the service industry.
The manufacturing and construction sectors also saw an increase, bringing the total number of jobs created in the first six months to a high of more than 81,000.
This is just 30,000 short of the 113,300 jobs created in 2005.
Some 3,100 workers were retrenched in the past three months, fewer than the 3,500 in the first quarter.
The majority of the workers came from the manufacturing sector, which the Manpower Ministry attributed to the ongoing restructuring in the sector.
The labour movement was cheered by the second quarter figures, even though overall unemployment rose by 0.3 percentage point to 2.9 percent last month.
One reason for the rise was the increase in labour supply as new graduates entered the workforce.
Said NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Halimah Yacob, "Although it has gone up, it is not an alarming figure. We have to take into account people who are changing jobs, in between, and so on. Now that the job market is better, there could be people taking the opportunity to switch to better jobs - that could account for it as well. Although we may have slightly higher unemployment, the job growth is still good and there are still a lot of jobs out there for workers."
Said Alex Sim Chong Tee, of the Food, Drinks & Allied Workers' Union, "We are very happy with the positive result; more jobs have been created. Hopefully, the unemployment rate will go down and from the unions' side, we have this so-called structural unemployment. Hopefully, with job redesign and WDA, I hope more Singaporeans come on board to fill up the jobs."
Overall, workers say they are optimistic that the labour market will continue to remain robust as the economy grows, and they are looking forward to more jobs being created in the second half of the year. - CNA /ct
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/222191/1/.html
Employment grew across the board in all major sectors, but the unemployment rate edged up from 2.6 percent in March to 2.9 percent in June, mainly due to an increase in the number of job hunters.
A total of 36,500 jobs were created in the second quarter, less than the record 45,000 earlier this year.
But the labour market continued to grow, with most of the jobs - 24,200 - coming from the service industry.
The manufacturing and construction sectors also saw an increase, bringing the total number of jobs created in the first six months to a high of more than 81,000.
This is just 30,000 short of the 113,300 jobs created in 2005.
Some 3,100 workers were retrenched in the past three months, fewer than the 3,500 in the first quarter.
The majority of the workers came from the manufacturing sector, which the Manpower Ministry attributed to the ongoing restructuring in the sector.
The labour movement was cheered by the second quarter figures, even though overall unemployment rose by 0.3 percentage point to 2.9 percent last month.
One reason for the rise was the increase in labour supply as new graduates entered the workforce.
Said NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Halimah Yacob, "Although it has gone up, it is not an alarming figure. We have to take into account people who are changing jobs, in between, and so on. Now that the job market is better, there could be people taking the opportunity to switch to better jobs - that could account for it as well. Although we may have slightly higher unemployment, the job growth is still good and there are still a lot of jobs out there for workers."
Said Alex Sim Chong Tee, of the Food, Drinks & Allied Workers' Union, "We are very happy with the positive result; more jobs have been created. Hopefully, the unemployment rate will go down and from the unions' side, we have this so-called structural unemployment. Hopefully, with job redesign and WDA, I hope more Singaporeans come on board to fill up the jobs."
Overall, workers say they are optimistic that the labour market will continue to remain robust as the economy grows, and they are looking forward to more jobs being created in the second half of the year. - CNA /ct
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/222191/1/.html