Employment Situation In Fourth Quarter 2009
Unemployment fell significantly with strong job creation and fewer layoffs
29 January 2010
Employment
- Job creation accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2009, supported by hirings for the year-end festivities and the integrated resorts. Total employment is estimated to grow by 38,700 in the fourth quarter of 2009, much higher than the gains of 14,000 in the preceding quarter and 21,300 in the fourth quarter of 2008. For the whole of 2009, total employment increased by 38,800, as job gains in the second half of the year more than offset the losses in the first half.
- The bulk of the employment gains came from services which added 32,100 workers in the fourth quarter of 2009, significantly higher than the gains in the first three quarters of the year and the fourth quarter of 2008. For the whole of 2009, services employment rose by 56,100. Construction added 4,700 workers in the quarter, bringing its total gains to 25,200 in 2009. After shedding workers for four consecutive quarters, manufacturing employment rose by 1,400 in the fourth quarter. As the gains were not sufficient to offset the earlier losses, manufacturing employment contracted by 43,000 in 2009.
Table 1.1: Employment
(In Thousands)
|
|
Employment Change
|
Employment Level as at Dec 09 p
|
|
4Q 08
|
2008
|
1Q 09
|
2Q 09
|
3Q 09
|
4Q 09p
|
2009 p
|
|
Total*
|
21.3
|
221.6
|
-6.2
|
-7.7
|
14.0
|
38.7
|
38.8
|
2,991.2
|
|
Manufacturing
|
-7.0
|
19.5
|
-22.1
|
-15.9
|
-6.4
|
1.4
|
-43.0
|
543.2
|
|
Construction
|
10.7
|
64.0
|
8.3
|
4.7
|
7.4
|
4.7
|
25.2
|
385.2
|
|
Services
|
17.3
|
136.4
|
7.5
|
3.8
|
12.7
|
32.1
|
56.1
|
2,042.2
|
P: Preliminary estimates
*: Total includes agriculture, fishing, quarrying, utilities and sewerage & waste management
Data may not add up due to rounding
- Despite the economic contraction, local employment grew by 43,000 in 2009. In contrast, foreign employment fell by 4,200 compared to a record increase of 156,900 in 2008. As at December 2009, there were 1.05 million foreigners forming 35.2% of the 2.99 million persons employed in Singapore. The majority comprising 64.8% or 1.94 million persons employed were locals.
Table 1.2: Employment (Annual)
(In Thousands)
|
|
Employment Change
|
Employment Level as at Dec 09 p
|
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009p
|
|
Total
|
-12.9
|
71.4
|
113.3
|
176.0
|
234.9
|
221.6
|
38.8
|
2,991.2
|
|
Local
|
14.9
|
49.9
|
63.5
|
90.9
|
90.4
|
64.7
|
43.0
|
1,937.7
|
|
Foreign
|
-27.9
|
21.5
|
49.8
|
85.1
|
144.5
|
156.9
|
-4.2
|
1,053.5
|
P: Preliminary estimates
Locals also known as residents refer to Singapore citizens and permanent residents
Data may not add up due to rounding
Retrenchment & redundancy
- Redundancy fell for the third consecutive quarter. Based on preliminary estimates, 1,300 workers were retrenched and 200 contracts were terminated prematurely, resulting in a total of 1,500 workers made redundant in the fourth quarter of 2009. This was substantially lower than the redundancies in the preceding quarter (2,470) and the fourth quarter of 2008 (9,410).
- For the whole of 2009, 22,700 workers were made redundant. This was higher than 16,880 in 2008, due to the spike in redundancies in the first quarter of 2009 arising from the economic downturn.
Table 2.1: Redundancy
|
|
4Q 08
|
2008
|
1Q 09
|
2Q 09
|
3Q 09
|
4Q 09p
|
2009 p
|
|
Redundancy
|
9,410
|
16,880
|
12,760
|
5,980
|
2,470
|
1,500
|
22,700
|
|
Early Release of Contract Workers
|
1,910
|
2,970
|
1,860
|
810
|
350
|
200
|
3,200
|
|
Retrenchment
|
7,500
|
13,920
|
10,900
|
5,170
|
2,110
|
1,300
|
19,500
|
P: Preliminary estimates
Data may not add up due to rounding
6 Manufacturing formed the bulk of redundancies (59.0% or 13,400) in 2009. Services laid off 8,300 or 36.6% and construction, 1,000 or 4.4%.
Table 2.2: Redundancy by Sector
|
|
4Q 08
|
2008
|
1Q 09
|
2Q 09
|
3Q 09
|
4Q 09p
|
2009 p
|
|
Total*
|
9,410
|
16,880
|
12,760
|
5,980
|
2,470
|
1,500
|
22,700
|
|
Manufacturing
|
5,170
|
10,500
|
9,250
|
2,900
|
840
|
400
|
13,400
|
|
Construction
|
390
|
530
|
330
|
230
|
140
|
300
|
1,000
|
|
Services
|
3,810
|
5,810
|
3,170
|
2,850
|
1,460
|
800
|
8,300
|
P: Preliminary estimates
*: Total includes agriculture, fishing, quarrying, utilities and sewerage & waste management
Data may not add up due to rounding
Unemployment
- With the strong employment growth, the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate improved significantly to 2.1% in December 2009 from 3.4% in September 2009. Among the resident labour force, the unemployment rate fell to 3.0% from 5.0% over the same period. An estimated 60,100 residents were unemployed in December 2009. The seasonally adjusted figure was 61,400.
Table 3.1: Unemployment Rate (Quarterly)
|
|
Dec 08
|
Mar 09
|
Jun 09
|
Sep 09
|
Dec 09p
|
|
Seasonally Adjusted
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overall (%)
|
2.5
|
3.3
|
3.3
|
3.4
|
2.1
|
|
Resident (%)
|
3.6
|
4.8
|
4.6
|
5.0
|
3.0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-Seasonally Adjusted
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overall (%)
|
2.4
|
3.0
|
4.1
|
2.9
|
2.0
|
|
Resident (%)
|
3.5
|
4.4
|
5.9
|
4.1
|
2.9
|
P: Preliminary estimates
- Pulled up by the higher rates in the first three quarters, the unemployment rate averaged 3.0% (overall) and 4.3% (resident) for the whole of 2009, up from 2.2% and 3.2% respectively in 2008. On average, 87,000 residents were unemployed in 2009, compared with 62,900 in 2008.
Table 3.2: Unemployment Rate (Annual)
|
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009p
|
|
Overall (%)
|
4.0
|
3.4
|
3.1
|
2.7
|
2.1
|
2.2
|
3.0
|
|
Resident (%)
|
5.2
|
4.4
|
4.1
|
3.6
|
3.0
|
3.2
|
4.3
|
P: Preliminary estimates
Annual figures are the simple averages of the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment figures at quarterly intervals.
- Information on data sources and coverage, as well as definitions of key concepts used in the report can be found in the attached Explanatory Notes. The preliminary data estimates are available online at the Ministry of Manpower’s website. A more detailed breakdown of the preliminary estimates will be released in the Economic Survey of Singapore, 2009.
- The above is a statistical release of the Manpower Research and Statistics Department of the Ministry.
Upcoming Publications
- The Ministry’s Manpower Research and Statistics Department will be releasing the full report on the Labour Market, 2009 on 15 March 2010.