Employment Situation In First Quarter 2011
29 April 2011
Employment
- Amid the healthy economic expansion, employment creation in the first quarter this year was fairly strong. Preliminary estimates show that total employment grew by 23,700 in the first quarter of 2011. The increase was expectedly lower than the seasonal high of 33,900 in the fourth quarter and the robust 36,500 gains in the first quarter last year, supported then by the strong hirings arising from the integrated resorts and the recovery from the 2009 recession.
- The bulk or 22,800 of the employment gains in the first quarter of 2011 came from services. Construction added 1,100 workers. Manufacturing employment declined by 500, lower than the contraction of 1,200 in the preceding quarter.
Table 1: Employment
| |
Employment Change
|
Employment Level as at
March 2011P |
| 1Q 10 |
2Q 10 |
3Q 10 |
4Q 10 |
1Q 11P |
| Total* |
36,500
|
24,900
|
20,500
|
33,900
|
23,700
|
3,129,500
|
|
Manufacturing
|
3,100
|
-2,300
|
-700
|
-1,200
|
-500
|
537,500
|
| Construction |
-400
|
2,000
|
-
|
900
|
1,100
|
396,700
|
| Services |
33,400
|
25,400
|
21,300
|
30,900
|
22,800
|
2,175,600
|
P: Preliminary estimates
-: Nil or negligible
*: Total includes agriculture, fishing, quarrying, utilities and sewerage & waste management
Data may not add up due to rounding
Retrenchment and Redundancy
- Based on preliminary estimates, 2,600 workers were retrenched and 400 had their contracts terminated prematurely, resulting in a total of 3,000 workers made redundant in the first quarter of 2011, compared with 3,190 redundancies in the preceding quarter.
Table 2.1: Redundancy
| |
1Q 10 |
2Q 10 |
3Q 10 |
4Q 10 |
1Q 11P |
| Redundancy |
2,400
|
2,280
|
1,930
|
3,190
|
3,000
|
| Retrenchment |
1,800
|
2,010
|
1,440
|
2,480
|
2,600
|
|
Early Release of Contract Workers
|
600
|
270
|
490
|
710
|
400
|
P: Preliminary estimates
Data may not add up due to rounding
- Manufacturing reported the largest number of redundancies affecting 1,600 workers. Services laid off 1,000 and construction displaced 400 workers.
Table 2.2: Redundancy by Sector
| |
1Q 10 |
2Q 10 |
3Q 10 |
4Q 10 |
1Q 11P |
| Total* |
2,400
|
2,280
|
1,930
|
3,190
|
3,000
|
| Manufacturing |
1,120
|
1,220
|
970
|
1,390
|
1,600
|
| Construction |
340
|
150
|
140
|
680
|
400
|
| Services |
940
|
920
|
820
|
1,120
|
1,000
|
P: Preliminary estimates
*: Total includes agriculture, fishing, quarrying, utilities and sewerage & waste management
Data may not add up due to rounding
Unemployment
- Reflecting the tight labour market, the overall unemployment rate fell from a seasonally adjusted 2.2% in December 2010 to 1.9% in March 2011. Among the resident labour force, the unemployment rate declined over the same period from a seasonally adjusted 3.1% to 2.7%. Both the overall and resident unemployment rates are the lowest in three years.
Table 3: Unemployment Rate
| |
Mar 10 |
Jun 10 |
Sep 10 |
Dec 10 |
Mar 11P |
|
Seasonally Adjusted
Overall (%)
|
2.2
|
2.2
|
2.1
|
2.2
|
1.9
|
| Resident (%) |
3.3
|
3.1
|
3.1
|
3.1
|
2.7
|
| |
|
Non-Seasonally Adjusted
Overall (%)
|
2.1
|
2.8
|
1.8
|
2.0
|
1.8
|
|
Resident (%)
|
3.1
|
4.1
|
2.6
|
2.7
|
2.6
|
P: Preliminary estimates
Notes:
Data have been revised using the latest set of seasonal factors, updated in line with standard seasonal adjustment procedure. The revision is done once a year, taking into account observations for the latest available year.
- On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rates in March 2011 (overall: 1.8%, resident: 2.6%) were lower than in December 2010 (overall: 2.0%, resident: 2.7%) and March 2010 (overall: 2.1%, resident: 3.1%). An estimated 54,400 residents were unemployed in March 2011. The seasonally adjusted figure was 57,100.
More Information
- 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 Statistics & Publications Page. A more detailed breakdown of the preliminary estimates will be released in the Economic Survey of Singapore, First Quarter 2011.
- 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, First Quarter 2011 on 15 June 2011.
Explanatory Notes
Employment
Source
Administrative records. The self-employed component is estimated from the Labour Force Survey.
Coverage
The employment data comprises all persons in employment i.e. employees and the self-employed. However, it excludes males who are serving their 2-year full-time national service liability in the Singapore Armed Forces, Police and Civil Defence Forces.
Data on the number of local (also known as resident) employees are compiled from the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board’s administrative records of active contributors defined as local employees who have at least one CPF contribution paid for him/her. A local (also known as resident) employee is any Singapore citizen or Permanent Resident who is employed by an employer under a contract of service or other agreement entered into in Singapore. Every local employee and his/her employer are required to make monthly contributions to the CPF which is a compulsory savings scheme to provide workers financial security in old age and helps meet the needs of healthcare, home-ownership, family protection, and asset enhancement.
Data on foreigners working in Singapore are compiled from administrative records of foreigners on valid work passes issued by the Ministry of Manpower. Foreigners can work in Singapore only if they have valid work passes issued by the Ministry of Manpower.
The number of self-employed residents is estimated from the Labour Force Survey. The self-employed comprises persons aged 15 years and over who are own account workers, employers or contributing family workers.
Concepts and Definitions
Employment change refers to the difference in the employment level at the end of the reference period compared with the end of the preceding period.
Uses and Limitations
This data series allows users to identify individual industries where employment is growing or stagnating.
An analysis of the data over time also helps in understanding the impact of cyclical and structural changes in the economy on the demand for workers. Detailed data are published in the quarterly Labour Market Report.
The change in employment over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment i.e. net of inflows and outflows of workers. Users should not mistake an increase in employment as gross job creation.
Unemployment
Source
Labour Force Survey
Coverage
The survey covers private households on the main island of Singapore. It excludes workers living in construction worksites, dormitories and workers’ quarters at the workplace and persons commuting from abroad to work in Singapore. Estimates of the total labour force are derived by combining data on residents (also known as locals, i.e. Singapore citizens and permanent residents) obtained from the survey with foreign workforce data compiled from administrative records.
Concepts and Definitions
Unemployed persons refer to persons aged 15 years and over who did not work but were available for work and were actively looking for a job during the survey reference period. They include persons who were not working but were taking steps to start their own business or taking up a new job after the reference period.
Unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons to the total number of economically active persons (i.e. employed and unemployed persons) aged 15 years and over.
Uses and Limitations
The unemployment rate is probably the best-known measure of the labour market. It measures unutilised labour supply and is useful in the study of the economic cycle as it is closely related to the economic fluctuations.
Unemployment can have frictional, cyclical and structural elements. As it takes time for job seekers and employers to find a match, there is always a certain level of frictional unemployment due to people changing jobs and from new entrants looking for work for the first time. Unemployment can also be structural e.g. arising from a mismatch between the job seekers and the job openings available. With structural unemployment, even if job vacancies and job seekers coexist in the labour market, they may not be matched over a long period of time. Finally, unemployment can be cyclical. This occurs when there is a general decline in demand for manpower as aggregate demand for goods and services fall in the event of a cyclical downturn. Unlike structural and frictional unemployment where the problem is in matching job openings with job seekers, cyclical unemployment occurs when there are not enough jobs to go around.
Unemployment can vary due to changes in demand or supply of manpower. It can decline if more people succeed in securing employment or when the unemployed persons stop to look for a job and leave the labour force either temporarily (e.g. to take up training) or permanently (e.g. to retire).
Conversely, unemployment may rise due to increase in labour supply from new entrants or re-entrants to the labour market. It will also rise if more people quit their jobs to look for alternative employment or if there is an increase in layoffs.
Retrenchment and Redundancy
Source
Labour Market Survey
Coverage
Before 2006, the survey covers private sector establishments each with at least 25 employees. From 2006 onwards, the survey also includes the public sector comprising government ministries, organs of state and statutory boards.
Concepts and Definitions
Retrenchment refers to the termination of employment of a permanent employee due to redundancy. In the public sector, it includes those who left service under the Special Resignation Scheme that allows redundant non-deployable Civil Service or Statutory Board employees to leave their organisations with compensation.
Early release of contract workers refers to employees on term contracts which were terminated prematurely because of redundancy.
Redundancy refers to an employee made redundant due to retrenchment or early release of contract.
Uses and Limitations
Data on retrenchment and redundancy are useful in the analysis of re-structuring or ailing industries. Detailed data are published in the quarterly Labour Market Report.
The number of persons retrenched or made redundant (flow) should not be confused with persons unemployed (stock). Not all persons retrenched or made redundant will be unemployed as some will be re-employed or decide to leave the workforce.