Singapore Jobs Market Update

Well, it’s always nice to start with some good news, and it appears that Singapore jobs market outlook for those looking for employment, or those wishing to move up the career ladder, is at least stabilising before making a hopeful turn for the better.

The second quarter of 2009 reports fewer redundancies and more jobs in Singapore openings compared to previous months. The overall unemployment rate (albeit seasonally adjusted) stayed unchanged from the first quarter, according to the latest research released by the Ministry of Manpower, late September.

After declining by 6,200 in Q1, total employment fell for the second consecutive quarter in Q2 by 7,700, said the report.

Services and construction also laid-off fewer workers in Q2, with 2,850 and 230 redundancies respectively, than in the previous quarter (3,170 and 330 respectively). As manufacturing accounted for over 90 per cent of the decrease, the proportion of workers made redundant from manufacturing shrank from 72 per cent to 48 per cent, while the share coming from services rose from 25 per cent to 48 per cent, and construction from 2.6 per cent to 3.9 per cent.

Job vacancies rose by 17 per cent over the quarter to 24,500 in June, but this was still 39 per cent below the 40,100 a year ago. After adjusting for seasonality, total job vacancies increased by 8 per cent in June from three months ago, after four quarters of decline. Coupled with stabilising unemployment, the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons increased slightly over the quarter from a seasonally adjusted 31 to 33 openings per 100 job seekers in June. This was the first increase after five straight quarters of decline, said MOM. Singapore’s retail sales dropped more than expected in July, according to Bloomberg, a decline that may ease as employers pare job cuts amid signs of a global economic recovery. Bloomberg continued to report;

The retail sales index dropped 9.8 percent from a year earlier after sliding a revised 8.4 percent in June as purchases of motor vehicles slumped and automobile owners spent less at gas stations, the Statistics Department said today. The median estimate of 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 7.5 percent decline.

“We expect the decline seen in July to be a temporary setback,” said Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. “For the rest of 2009, we expect retail sales to continue recovering on stronger consumption underpinned by a stable job market and an improving global economy.” Singapore’s gross domestic product gained an annualized 20.7 percent last quarter from the previous three months, expanding for the first time in a year. Employers cut 5,980 jobs in the three months ended June, compared with 12,760 in the first quarter, and the unemployment rate held at 3.3 percent as job vacancies rose for the first time after four quarters of declines, the manpower ministry said.

This article is written by Kellie Whitehead. Kellie writes job related content for TeleportMyJob.Com, specializing in helping professionals relocate their careers in international opportunities like London jobs, Singapore jobs, and Jobs in Dubai.