Employment Situation in Fourth Quarter 2007

31 January 2008

Employment creation hits another record high, bringing unemployment rate down to its lowest in a decade

Employment

The strong economy led to another record-breaking year for employment creation in 2007. Preliminary estimates show that employment grew by 64,200 in the fourth quarter of 2007, considerably higher than the gains of 51,500 in the same period a year ago and 58,600 in the third quarter of 2007. This brought total employment creation in the whole of 2007 to 236,600,  far surpassing the 176,000 in 2006.

2.    All major sectors registered employment growth in 2007. The services sector saw the largest employment gains of 144,100, boosted by rapid increase in hirings across a wide range of industries led by financial and professional services. The booming construction sector added 40,900 workers, double the increase in 2006. Manufacturing employment rose by 49,400, supported by strong manpower demand in marine and offshore engineering.

Table 1.1: Employment

                                                                                                                 (In Thousands)

	Employment Change							Employment Level as at Dec 07 p
	4Q 06	2006	1Q 07	2Q 07	3Q 07	4Q 07p	2007 p
Total*	51.5	176.0	49.4	64.4	58.6	64.2	236.6	2,732.5
Manufacturing	10.9	41.6	10.1	15.9	12.4	11.0	49.4	566.9
Construction	5.8	20.5	5.4	10.9	11.3	13.2	40.9	296.4
Services	34.4	112.7	33.7	36.8	34.1	39.5	144.1	1,850.7

3.   Both locals and foreigners benefited from the strong job creation. Local employment grew by 92,100 in 2007, slightly more than the gains of 90,900 in 2006. This is the third successive year that local employment creation has set new record highs. Given the limits to the growth of Singapore's indigenous workforce and the larger base of jobs created, the local share of total employment created dropped from 52% in 2006 to 39% in 2007,  even though the absolute gains in employment taken up by locals increased over the period.

4.    Foreign employment rose by a new high of 144,500 in 2007, enabling the economy to grow beyond the limits of Singapore's indigenous workforce.  As at December 2007, there were 900,800 foreigners forming one in three (33%) of the 2.73 million persons employed in Singapore. The majority or two thirds (67% or 1.83 million) of the workforce were locals.

 Table 1.2: Employment (Annual)

                                                                                         (In Thousands)

	Employment Change							Employment Level as at Dec 07 p
	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007p
Total	-0.1	-22.9	-12.9	71.4	113.3	176.0	236.6	2,732.5
Local	1.3	19.4	14.9	49.9	63.5	90.9	92.1	1,831.7
Foreign	-1.4	-42.3	-27.9	21.5	49.8	85.1	144.5	900.8

^P:       ^P:  Preliminary estimates
Locals also known as residents refer to Singapore citizens and permanent residents

Data may not add up due to rounding

 

Retrenchment

5.   Preliminary findings show that 1,500 workers were retrenched in the fourth quarter of 2007, lower than the 1,827 retrenched in the previous quarter and only around half the 3,215 retrenched in the same quarter a year ago.

 

6.   Of every ten workers retrenched in the quarter, six were from the manufacturing sector (900), reflecting the on-going restructuring in the electronics industry. The remaining four were laid off from the services sector (600). 
                        

Table 2.1: Retrenchment (Quarterly)

	4Q 06	1Q 07	2Q 07	3Q 07	4Q 07P
Total*	3,215	1,964	1,918	1,827	1,500
Manufacturing	2,447	1,393	1,352	1,254	900
Construction	2	1	7	7	-
Services	750	561	559	566	600

 ^P: Preliminary estimates

7.   Retrenchment is at its lowest in 14 years. For the whole of 2007, 7,200 workers were retrenched, substantially lower than 12,603 in 2006. Manufacturing formed the bulk of retrenchments (4,900), followed by services (2,300).

Table 2.2: Retrenchment (Annual)

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007p
Total*	25,838	19,086	16,400	10,191	10,294	12,603	7,200
Manufacturing	14,440	9,141	7,230	4,483	6,809	8,810	4,900
Construction	698	850	627	373	209	393	-
Services	10,497	9,013	8,278	5,022	3,263	3,333	2,300

Unemployment 

8.   Supported by robust job creation, the unemployment rate dropped to a decade low, comparable to pre-Asian crisis levels. The seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate dipped further to 1.6% in December 2007 from 1.7% in September 2007. The resident unemployment rate remained at a low of 2.3%, unchanged from a quarter ago.

9.   An estimated 45,200 residents were unemployed in December 2007. The seasonally adjusted figure was 45,600.

Table 3.1: Unemployment Rate (Quarterly)

^P: Preliminary estimates

10.   For the whole year of 2007, overall unemployment rate averaged 2.1%, down significantly from 2.7% in 2006 and 3.1% in 2005. Similarly, the resident unemployment rate fell to 3.0% in 2007 from 3.6% in 2006 and 4.1% in 2005. Both the overall and resident unemployment rates in 2007 are at their lowest in a decade. On average, 56,900 residents were unemployed in 2007, down from 67,600 in 2006 and the high of 91,200 in 2003.

Table 3.2: Unemployment Rate (Annual)

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007p
Overall (%)	2.7	3.6	4.0	3.4	3.1