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Employment Situation In Third Quarter 2011

Statistics and publications

31 October 2011

Employment

  1. The third quarter of 2011 saw strong employment growth. Preliminary estimates show that total employment grew by 32,300 in the quarter. This was up from the gains of 24,800 in the preceding quarter and 20,500 in the third quarter last year.
  2. The bulk of the employment gains in the third quarter this year came from services (21,900), higher than in the preceding quarter (20,200). Construction added 6,600 workers, while manufacturing employment rose by 3,500. Both registered substantially higher gains than in the earlier quarters. 

                                                       Table 1: Employment
     
     

     Employment Change

    		 Employment Level as at
    September 2011P 
     3Q 10 4Q 10 1Q 11 2Q 11 3Q 11P 
    Total* 20,500 33,900  28,300 24,800 32,300 3,191,200
    Manufacturing -700 -1,200 100 800 3,500 542,400
    Construction - 900 1,500 3,600 6,600 407,300
     Services  21,300 30,900 26,500  20,200 21,900 2,221,400
    P: Preliminary estimates
    -: Nil or negligible
    *: Data for the three major sectors do not add up to the total as the latter includes agriculture, fishing, quarrying, utilities and sewerage & waste management.
    Data are rounded to the nearest hundred. Hence, they may not add up.

    Redundancy
  3. Layoffs of workers remained low. Based on preliminary estimates, 1,500 workers were retrenched and 500 had their contracts terminated prematurely, resulting in a total of 2,000 workers made redundant in the third quarter of 2011. This was about the same as the 2,020 redundancies in the preceding quarter. 

                                                   Table 2.1: Redundancy
      3Q 10 4Q 10   1Q 11 2Q 11 3Q 11P 
    Redundancy  1,930 3,190 2,750 2,020 2,000 
    Retrenchment 1,440  2,480 2,380 1,630 1,500
    Early Release of Contract Workers   490  710  370 390  500
    P: Preliminary estimates
    Data pertain to private sector establishments each with at least 25 employees and the public sector.
    Data are rounded to the nearest ten. Hence, they may not add up.
  4. Services laid off 1,200 workers, followed by manufacturing with 700. Construction displaced another 100 workers.

                                      Table 2.2: Redundancy by Sector
      3Q 10 4Q 10 1Q 11 2Q 11  3Q 11P
    Total*  1,930 3,190 2,750 2,020 2,000
    Manufacturing 970 1,390 1,410 620 700
    Construction 140  680 290 380 100
    Services 820 1,120 1,050 1,020 1,200
    P: Preliminary estimates
    Data pertain to private sector establishments each with at least 25 employees and the public sector.
    *: Data for the three major sectors do not add up to the total as the latter includes agriculture, fishing, quarrying, utilities and sewerage & waste management.
    Data are rounded to the nearest ten. Hence, they may not add up.

    Unemployment
  5. Unemployment dropped slightly after increasing in the previous quarter. The seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate declined from 2.1% in June 2011 to 2.0% in September 2011. Similarly, the unemployment rate for residents dipped from 3.0% to 2.9% and for Singapore citizens from 3.1% to 3.0% over the same period. 

                                         Table 3: Unemployment Rate
      Sep 10 Dec 10 Mar 11 Jun 11 Sep 11P
    Seasonally Adjusted
    Overall (%)     		2.1 2.2 1.9 2.1  2.0 
    Resident (%) 3.1 3.1 2.7 3.0  2.9 
    Citizens (%) 3.3 3.3 2.8 3.1  3.0 
    Non-Seasonally Adjusted
    Overall (%)     		1.8 2.0  1.8 2.7  1.7 
    Resident (%) 2.6 2.7  2.6  3.9 2.5 
    Citizens (%)  2.8 3.0  2.7 4.0  2.6 
    P: Preliminary estimates
  6. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate in September 2011 was 1.7% for overall, 2.5% for residents and 2.6% for citizens. The unemployment rates were lower than in June 2011, as this year’s batch of tertiary graduates secured employment and students who looked for work during the mid-year vacation returned to school. An estimated 52,500 residents including 45,700 citizens were unemployed in September 2011. The seasonally adjusted figures were 61,300 for residents and 53,200 for citizens.

    More Information
  7. 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 MOM's Statistics and Publications webpage. A more detailed breakdown of the preliminary estimates will be released in the Economic Survey of Singapore, Third Quarter 2011.
  8. The above is a statistical release of the Manpower Research and Statistics Department of the Ministry.

    Upcoming Publications
  9. The Manpower Research and Statistics Department will be releasing the full report on the Labour Market, Third Quarter 2011 on 15 December 2011.

Explantory 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.