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Labour Market, 2010

Statistics and publications
15 March 2011 

  1. Bolstered by the robust economic performance, the labour market recovered strongly in 2010 from the 2009 recession. With the tighter job market, workers' earnings have risen. Labour productivity has also increased, driven by the strong output growth. 
  2. Supported by hirings for the year-end festivities, employment growth strengthened in the fourth quarter of 2010 (33,900), after easing in the preceding two quarters (third quarter: 20,500 and second quarter: 24,900) from the initial strong gains in the first quarter of 2010 (36,500) and the fourth quarter of 2009 (37,500). For the whole of 2010, total employment growth was 115,900 or 3.9%, far exceeding the 37,600 or 1.3% in 2009.
  3. Services contributed the bulk of employment gains (111,000) in 2010, almost double that in 2009 (55,600). Construction employment grew by 2,500, down substantially from the gains of 25,100 in 2009. This was mainly due to the completion of several large building projects and fewer new projects coming on stream. Manufacturing employment declined by 1,100, but this was much lower than the losses of 43,700 in 2009.
  4. In 2010, local employment grew by 56,200, exceeding the 41,800 gain in 2009. Foreign employment increased by 59,700 in 2010, after declining by 4,200 in 2009. Excluding foreign domestic workers, foreign employment rose by 54,400 in 2010.
  5. As at December 2010, there were 1,992,700 locals in employment, forming around two in three of the 3,105,900 persons employed in Singapore. The remaining 1,113,200 were foreigners. Excluding foreign domestic workers, the foreigners' share of employment was 31.4% in December 2010, up from 30.7% a year ago.
  6. Unemployment remained low during 2010, after declining sharply in December 2009 from the recession high in September 2009. Over the quarter, 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%. There were 57,400 unemployed residents in December 2010. The seasonally adjusted number was 64,300. With the strong economic recovery, the unemployment rate averaged 2.2% (overall) and 3.1% (resident) in 2010, down significantly from 3.0% and 4.3% respectively in 2009. On average, 64,800 residents were unemployed in 2010, compared with 86,900 in 2009.
  7. The long-term unemployment rate among residents improved from 0.7% in December 2009 to 0.6% in December 2010. The number and share of job seekers who had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks also decreased from 13,900 or 23% of unemployed residents in December 2009 to 12,300 or 22% in December 2010. For the whole of 2010, the long-term unemployment rate among residents averaged 0.7%, down from 0.9% in 2009. On average, there were 13,700 residents who were long-term unemployed, compared with 18,700 in 2009.
  8. Fewer workers were laid off for the whole of 2010, despite an increase in the last quarter. Redundancies rose to 3,190 in the fourth quarter of 2010 from 1,930 in the preceding quarter. Nevertheless, redundancies for the whole year totalled 9,800, down substantially from 23,430 in 2009 and 16,880 in 2008. This was the second lowest level hit, since the start of the data series in 1998. The redundancies in 2010 comprised 7,740 workers retrenched and 2,070 whose contracts were terminated prematurely.
  9. Based on CPF records, slightly over half (51%) of residents laid off in the third quarter of 2010 were re-employed as at December 2010. The proportion decreased from 58% in September 2010, after rising from the low of 43% in June 2009.
  10. With the strong economy, job vacancies rose by 23% from 35,800 in December 2009 to 44,100 in December 2010. After dipping slightly over the quarter in September 2010, the seasonally adjusted job vacancies increased by 3.0% to a new high in December 2010, since the comparable series started in March 2006. With a slight increase in pool of job seekers, the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons eased slightly to a seasonally adjusted 1.01 in December 2010 from 1.06 in September 2010, after rising for six consecutive quarters from the low of 0.36 in March 2009.
  11. The monthly resignation and recruitment rates averaged 2.6% and 1.8% respectively in the fourth quarter of 2010, higher than the corresponding 2.4% and 1.7% in the same period of 2009. After seasonal adjustment, both rates have broadly stabilised in the last two quarters of 2010, after increasing from the low experienced in the second quarter of 2009 during the recession. 
  12. Labour productivity grew over the year by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, higher than the 6.2% increase in the previous quarter. Driven by the robust output growth, labour productivity increased by 11% in 2010, after two years of decline (2009: -3.4% and 2008: -7.5%). 
  13. Nominal earnings grew by 7.5% over the year in the fourth quarter of 2010. Weighed down by higher inflation in the fourth quarter, real earnings rose by 3.4%. Nevertheless, this was higher than the increase in the preceding three quarters (third quarter: 2.1%, second quarter: 2.6%, first quarter: 2.8%). For the full year of 2010, earnings rose by 5.6% (nominal) and 2.7% (real), after declining in 2009 (nominal: -2.6%, real: -3.2%).
  14. In summary, driven by the exceptional economic expansion, the labour market has recovered strongly in 2010. With many jobs created, unemployment remained low during the year, following a sharp decline in December 2009 from the recession high. The robust output growth has led to a strong recovery in labour productivity, after two years of decline. This has helped to ease cost pressures on businesses, even as workers' earnings rose.

    For More Information
  15. The report is available online on the Ministry of Manpower's Statistics and Publication Page.