Unemployment rate plunges to 3-year low in 1Q 2011

Reflecting the tight labour market, the overall unemployment rate fell from a seasonally adjusted 2.2% in December 2010 to 1.9% in March 2011.

Among the resident labour force, on the other hand, the unemployment rate declined over the same period from 3.1 per cent sa to 2.7 per cent.

According to the Ministry of Manpower, both the overall and resident unemployment rates are the lowest in three years.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, an estimated 54,400 residents were unemployed in March 2011. The seasonally adjusted figure was 57,100.

Employment creation also remained firm during the period as total employment grew by 23,700. However, the increase was expectedly lower than the seasonal high of 33,900 in the previous quarter and in the first quarter last year, supported then by the strong hirings arising from the integrated resorts and the recovery from the 2009 recession.

According to the MOM's report, the bulk or 22,800 of the employment gains in the first quarter of 2011 came from services. Construction added 1,100 workers. Manufacturing employment declined by 500, lower than the contraction of 1,200 in the preceding quarter.

Based on preliminary estimates, 2,600 workers were retrenched and 400 had their contracts terminated prematurely, resulting in a total of 3,000 workers made redundant in the first quarter of 2011, compared with 3,190 redundancies in the preceding quarter.

Manufacturing reported the largest number of redundancies affecting 1,600 workers. Services laid off 1,000 and construction displaced 400 workers.