SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said employment growth stayed high despite a rise in layoffs in the third quarter of this year.
Job openings increased, bucking the declines in the preceding two quarters, said a MOM statement on Friday.
The seasonally-adjusted vacancies rose by 13 per cent over the quarter to 51,500 in September 2012. There are now 125 job openings per 100 job seekers, up from 91 in June.
The seasonally-adjusted overall jobless rate dipped marginally to 1.9 per cent in September 2012 from 2.0 per cent a quarter ago, while the unemployment rates for residents and Singapore citizens were unchanged at 2.8 per cent and 3.0 per cent respectively.
The ministry said unemployment rates have remained low, reflecting high manpower demand amid the tightening in foreign manpower controls.
Total employment grew by 26,200 in the third quarter of 2012, moderating from the growth of 31,900 in the same period last year, and 31,700 in the second quarter of 2012.
In the first nine months of 2012, total employment grew by 85,100 -- just slightly more than the increase of 85,000 in the same period last year.
Layoffs rose after declining in the preceding two quarters; 2,850 workers were made redundant in the third quarter of 2012, comprising 2,430 workers retrenched and 420 workers whose contracts were terminated prematurely.
This was one of the few higher quarterly redundancy figures reported in post-recessionary periods, but they remained substantially below recessionary highs, said MOM.
Based on CPF records, slightly more than one in two (52 per cent) residents laid off in the second quarter of 2012 secured employment by September 2012. This rate of re-entry into employment within six months of redundancy fell from 60 per cent experienced by the previous cohort (laid off in the first quarter) in June 2012.
- CNA/xq/ir
Job openings increased, bucking the declines in the preceding two quarters, said a MOM statement on Friday.
The seasonally-adjusted vacancies rose by 13 per cent over the quarter to 51,500 in September 2012. There are now 125 job openings per 100 job seekers, up from 91 in June.
The seasonally-adjusted overall jobless rate dipped marginally to 1.9 per cent in September 2012 from 2.0 per cent a quarter ago, while the unemployment rates for residents and Singapore citizens were unchanged at 2.8 per cent and 3.0 per cent respectively.
The ministry said unemployment rates have remained low, reflecting high manpower demand amid the tightening in foreign manpower controls.
Total employment grew by 26,200 in the third quarter of 2012, moderating from the growth of 31,900 in the same period last year, and 31,700 in the second quarter of 2012.
In the first nine months of 2012, total employment grew by 85,100 -- just slightly more than the increase of 85,000 in the same period last year.
Layoffs rose after declining in the preceding two quarters; 2,850 workers were made redundant in the third quarter of 2012, comprising 2,430 workers retrenched and 420 workers whose contracts were terminated prematurely.
This was one of the few higher quarterly redundancy figures reported in post-recessionary periods, but they remained substantially below recessionary highs, said MOM.
Based on CPF records, slightly more than one in two (52 per cent) residents laid off in the second quarter of 2012 secured employment by September 2012. This rate of re-entry into employment within six months of redundancy fell from 60 per cent experienced by the previous cohort (laid off in the first quarter) in June 2012.
- CNA/xq/ir