<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">7:30 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 2) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>12485.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Jobless rate in March hits 5-year high of 4.8%
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Sue-Ann Chia, Senior Political Correspondent
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE unemployment rate for Singaporeans and permanent residents hit a five-year high of 4.8 per cent last month, according to the latest Manpower Ministry figures, but this is still below the peak reached during the Sars crisis in 2003.
The jobless rate for locals rose to 6.2 per cent in September that year, as worldwide fear of the infectious respiratory disease affected trade, tourism and business, and led to mounting job losses.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story -->RELATED LINKS
<!-- Audio --><!-- Video --><!-- PDF -->
JOBS LOST
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>This year's jobless level is expected to worsen, with most analysts agreed that the recession has not bottomed out yet.
The current swine flu outbreak adds to uncertainties over the economy and job market.
The Manpower Ministry figures showed a rising trend in job losses over the past year. (See chart)
There were 12,600 redundancies in the first three months of the year, the highest quarterly figure in a decade, surpassing the quarterly peak of 8,890 in 2001 due to the dot.com bust and terrorist attacks in the United States.
Most losses - 9,000 - were from the beleaguered manufacturing sector. Another 2,900 came from the services sector, and 700 from construction.
The redundancy numbers are in line with what analysts have predicted.
Barclays economist Leong Wai Ho, for instance, said he had predicted that 12,000 people would lose their jobs in the first quarter.
He said this was a relatively low figure despite the severity of the slowdown because of government measures like the Jobs Credit scheme which subsidises the wage bill for local workers, and the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur) which encourages employers to retrain workers.
MOM figures showed that overall unemployment here rose from 2.5 per cent last December to 3.2 per cent last month, with 95,600 people out of work.
The unemployment rate which excludes foreigners, however, spiked much more, jumping from 3.6 per cent to 4.8 per cent over the same period.
Economists expect the unemployment rate to rise further in the coming months.
'Government schemes have helped in the first few months but we should expect the next wave of job losses,' said Standard Chartered Bank economist Alvin Liew.
As it is, jobs shed have already exceeded new job creation, with a net loss of 1,000 jobs in the first quarter this year.
The drop is due to falling external demand that has severely affected the manufacturing sector, which shed 19,900 jobs in the last quarter, far more than the 7,000 lost in the previous quarter.
The construction and services sector continued to add jobs, but at much lower numbers.
The services sector brought in 10,300 jobs, lower than 17,300 in the previous quarter; while the construction sector gained 8,500 jobs, down from 10,700 in the last quarter.
The first quarter's job loss of 1,000 ends the job creation bull run that reached record highs in the last two years. It is also the first decline since the Sars crisis of 2003. Economists from the Nanyang Technological University recently projected a net job loss of 70,000 for the entire year. That projection was made in March, before the swine flu outbreak.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Sue-Ann Chia, Senior Political Correspondent
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE unemployment rate for Singaporeans and permanent residents hit a five-year high of 4.8 per cent last month, according to the latest Manpower Ministry figures, but this is still below the peak reached during the Sars crisis in 2003.
The jobless rate for locals rose to 6.2 per cent in September that year, as worldwide fear of the infectious respiratory disease affected trade, tourism and business, and led to mounting job losses.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story -->RELATED LINKS
<!-- Audio --><!-- Video --><!-- PDF -->
<!-- Photo Gallery -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>This year's jobless level is expected to worsen, with most analysts agreed that the recession has not bottomed out yet.
The current swine flu outbreak adds to uncertainties over the economy and job market.
The Manpower Ministry figures showed a rising trend in job losses over the past year. (See chart)
There were 12,600 redundancies in the first three months of the year, the highest quarterly figure in a decade, surpassing the quarterly peak of 8,890 in 2001 due to the dot.com bust and terrorist attacks in the United States.
Most losses - 9,000 - were from the beleaguered manufacturing sector. Another 2,900 came from the services sector, and 700 from construction.
The redundancy numbers are in line with what analysts have predicted.
Barclays economist Leong Wai Ho, for instance, said he had predicted that 12,000 people would lose their jobs in the first quarter.
He said this was a relatively low figure despite the severity of the slowdown because of government measures like the Jobs Credit scheme which subsidises the wage bill for local workers, and the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur) which encourages employers to retrain workers.
MOM figures showed that overall unemployment here rose from 2.5 per cent last December to 3.2 per cent last month, with 95,600 people out of work.
The unemployment rate which excludes foreigners, however, spiked much more, jumping from 3.6 per cent to 4.8 per cent over the same period.
Economists expect the unemployment rate to rise further in the coming months.
'Government schemes have helped in the first few months but we should expect the next wave of job losses,' said Standard Chartered Bank economist Alvin Liew.
As it is, jobs shed have already exceeded new job creation, with a net loss of 1,000 jobs in the first quarter this year.
The drop is due to falling external demand that has severely affected the manufacturing sector, which shed 19,900 jobs in the last quarter, far more than the 7,000 lost in the previous quarter.
The construction and services sector continued to add jobs, but at much lower numbers.
The services sector brought in 10,300 jobs, lower than 17,300 in the previous quarter; while the construction sector gained 8,500 jobs, down from 10,700 in the last quarter.
The first quarter's job loss of 1,000 ends the job creation bull run that reached record highs in the last two years. It is also the first decline since the Sars crisis of 2003. Economists from the Nanyang Technological University recently projected a net job loss of 70,000 for the entire year. That projection was made in March, before the swine flu outbreak.
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