Silver lining: Unemployment up but re-entry rate improves

Records revealed 57% of residents laid off in the first quarter secured employment by June 2011.

The Ministry of Manpower reported, “With the slower employment growth, the overall unemployment rate increased from a seasonally adjusted 1.9% in March 2011 to 2.1% in June 2011. Over the same period, the unemployment rate for residents rose from 2.7% to 3.0%.”

There were 81,200 unemployed residents in June 2011, according to the Ministry. The seasonally adjusted figure was 62,600, up from 57,000 in March but lower than 65,000 in June 2010.

Meanwhile, saying that long-term unemployment improved, the Ministry noted, “Nearly one in five (19%) or 15,500 of the unemployed residents in June 2011 had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks, lower than the 20% or 16,500 a year ago and 22% or 25,800 in June 2009. These long-term unemployed residents formed 0.7% of the resident labour force, down from 0.8% in June 2010 and the high of 1.3% in June 2009 during the recession.”

As for redundancies, the number dropped from the last quarter. “The number of workers made redundant decreased from 2,750 in the first quarter of 2011 to 2,020 in the second quarter of 2011. This was driven mainly by the decline in manufacturing (from 1,410 to 620) which more than offset the increase in construction (from 290 to 380). Layoffs in services (1,020) were comparable to the previous quarter (1,050),” reported the Ministry.

CPF records showed that 57% of residents laid off in the first quarter of 2011 secured employment by June 2011, with the rate of re-entry into employment within six months of redundancy rising for the second consecutive quarter from 53% in March 2011 and 51% in December 2010.