Employment Situation in Fourth Quarter 2010
31 January 2011
Employment
- Preliminary estimates show that total employment grew by 30,600 in the fourth quarter of 2010. Supported by hirings for the year-end festivities, the increase was higher than in the previous quarter (20,500).
- For the whole of 2010, total employment increased by 112,500, significantly exceeding the gains of 37,600 in 2009. The bulk of the employment gains came from services, which added 109,500 workers in 2010, up from the increase of 55,600 in 2009. Construction employment, which rose by 25,100 in 2009, saw modest gains of 2,300 in 2010, due to completion of several large building projects and fewer projects coming on stream. While manufacturing employment declined by 2,700, this was much lower than the losses of 43,700 in 2009.
Table 1.1: Employment
|
|
Employment Change
|
Employment Level as at Dec 2010 p
|
|
4Q 09
|
2009
|
1Q 10
|
2Q 10
|
3Q 10
|
4Q 10p
|
2010 p
|
|
Total*
|
37,500
|
37,600
|
36,500
|
24,900
|
20,500
|
30,600
|
112,500
|
3,102,500
|
|
Manufacturing
|
700
|
- 43,700
|
3,100
|
-2,300
|
-700
|
-2,800
|
-2,700
|
536,400
|
|
Construction
|
4,600
|
25,100
|
-400
|
2,000
|
-
|
700
|
2,300
|
395,400
|
|
Services
|
31,500
|
55,600
|
33,400
|
25,400
|
21,300
|
29,400
|
109,500
|
2,151,400
|
P: Preliminary estimates
“-“: Nil or negligible
*: Total includes agriculture, fishing, quarrying, utilities and sewerage & waste management
Data may not add up due to rounding
- Local employment grew by 54,200 in 2010, exceeding the 41,800 gains in 2009. With the strong economic recovery and higher demand for manpower, foreign employment increased by 58,300 in 2010, after declining by 4,200 in 2009. Excluding foreign domestic workers, foreign employment rose by 53,000 in 2010.
- As at December 2010, there were 1,990,700 locals forming 64.2% of the 3,102,500 persons employed in Singapore. The remaining 35.8% or 1,111,800 were foreigners. Excluding foreign domestic workers, the foreigners’ share of employment was 31.4% in December 2010, up from 30.7% in December 2009.
Table 1.2: Employment (Annual)
|
|
Employment Change
|
Employment Level as at Dec 2010 p
|
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010p
|
|
Total
|
71,400
|
113,300
|
176,000
|
234,900
|
221,600
|
37,600
|
112,500
|
3,102,500
|
|
Local
|
49,900
|
63,500
|
90,900
|
90,400
|
64,700
|
41,800
|
54,200
|
1,990,700
|
|
Foreign
|
21,500
|
49,800
|
85,100
|
144,500
|
156,900
|
- 4,200
|
58,300
|
1,111,800
|
P: Preliminary estimates
Locals also known as residents refer to Singapore citizens and permanent residents
Data may not add up due to rounding
Redundancy
- Based on preliminary estimates, 2,500 workers were retrenched and 700 had their contracts terminated prematurely, resulting in a total of 3,200 workers made redundant in the fourth quarter of 2010. This was higher than the redundancies in the preceding quarter (1,930).
- For the whole year of 2010, 9,800 workers were made redundant, down substantially from 23,430 in 2009.
Table 2.1: Redundancy
|
|
4Q 09
|
2009
|
1Q 10
|
2Q 10
|
3Q 10
|
4Q 10p
|
2010 p
|
|
Redundancy
|
2,220
|
23,430
|
2,400
|
2,280
|
1,930
|
3,200
|
9,800
|
|
Early Release of Contract Workers
|
250
|
3,270
|
600
|
270
|
490
|
700
|
2,100
|
|
Retrenchment
|
1,980
|
20,160
|
1,800
|
2,010
|
1,440
|
2,500
|
7,700
|
P: Preliminary estimates
Data may not add up due to rounding
- Manufacturing laid off 4,700 workers in 2010, followed by services (3,800) and construction (1,300).
Table 2.2: Redundancy by Sector
|
|
4Q 09
|
2009
|
1Q 10
|
2Q 10
|
3Q 10
|
4Q 10p
|
2010 p
|
|
Total*
|
2,220
|
23,430
|
2,400
|
2,280
|
1,930
|
3,200
|
9,800
|
|
Manufacturing
|
860
|
13,840
|
1,120
|
1,220
|
970
|
1,400
|
4,700
|
|
Construction
|
250
|
950
|
340
|
150
|
140
|
700
|
1,300
|
|
Services
|
1,080
|
8,550
|
940
|
920
|
820
|
1,100
|
3,800
|
P: Preliminary estimates
*: Total includes agriculture, fishing, quarrying, utilities and sewerage & waste management
Data may not add up due to rounding
Unemployment
- The overall unemployment rate rose slightly to a seasonally adjusted 2.2% in December 2010 from 2.1% in September 2010. Among the resident labour force, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.1%. Compared with a year ago, both rates showed improvement from 2.3% (overall) and 3.3% (resident) in December 2009. An estimated 57,500 residents were unemployed in December 2010. The seasonally adjusted figure was 64,400.
Table 3.1: Unemployment Rate (Quarterly)
|
|
Dec 09
|
Mar 10
|
Jun 10
|
Sep 10
|
Dec 10p
|
|
Seasonally Adjusted
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overall (%)
|
2.3
|
2.2
|
2.2
|
2.1
|
2.2
|
|
Resident (%)
|
3.3
|
3.2
|
3.2
|
3.1
|
3.1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-Seasonally Adjusted
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overall (%)
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
2.8
|
1.8
|
2.0
|
|
Resident (%)
|
2.9
|
3.1
|
4.1
|
2.6
|
2.7
|
P: Preliminary estimates
- With the strong economic recovery, the unemployment rate averaged 2.2% (overall) and 3.1% (resident) in 2010, down significantly from 3.0% (overall) and 4.3% (resident) in 2009. On average, 64,800 residents were unemployed in 2010, compared with 86,900 in 2009.
Table 3.2: Unemployment Rate (Annual)
|
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010p
|
|
Overall (%)
|
3.4
|
3.1
|
2.7
|
2.1
|
2.2
|
3.0
|
2.2
|
|
Resident (%)
|
4.4
|
4.1
|
3.6
|
3.0
|
3.2
|
4.3
|
3.1
|
P: Preliminary estimates
Annual figures are the simple averages of the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment figures at quarterly intervals.
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 and Publications Page. A more detailed breakdown of the preliminary estimates will be released in the Economic Survey of Singapore, 2010.
- The above is a statistical release of the Manpower Research and Statistics Department of the Ministry.
Upcoming Publication
- The Ministry’s Manpower Research and Statistics Department will be releasing the full report on the Labour Market, 2010 on 15 March 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) 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 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.