5.9% residents jobless

AMID the gloom in the labour market, there is a silver lining.

Although the number of Singapore residents who lost their jobs hit 5.9 per cent in June - on a non-seasonally adjusted basis - older workers were able to stay on in the workforce at the record high level reached in 2008.

There were 116, 300 residents who were unemployed in June, significantly higher than the 4 per cent 76,200 a year ago. The rise was felt across all occupations and industries, according to the Labour Force Survey carried out in mid-2009 by the Ministry of Manpower's Research and Statistics Department, which released the key findings on Monday morning.

But reflecting faster growth in the resident population, the number of resident workers went up by 3 per cent, after a rise of 2.7 per cent in June last year, and 2 per cent in 2007. As at June, there were 1.99 million residents in the labour force comprising 1.13 million (57 per cent men and 0.86 million (43 per cent) women.

The survey also found that among those in employment, the median income stabilised after rising significantly over the preceding two years.

Amid the global recession, the proportion of working residents aged 25 to 64 fell for the first time in six years to 75.8 per cent in June, from the peak of 77 a year ago. This mainly reflected the decline in employment rate for residents in the prime-working age group of 25 to 54 from 81.4 per cent to 80.1 per cent, the survey showed.

'Even though it had decreased, the employment rate for prime-working age men in Singapore remained higher than in many developed and Asian economies,' said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

Despite the economic downturn, the employment rate of older residents aged 55 to 64 remained at the record high of 57.2 per cent reached in 2008, said MOM, adding: 'In fact, the rate for older men increased from 73.8 per cent in 2008 to a new high of 74.7 per cent in 2009, offsetting the slight decrease for older women from 40.5 per cent to 40.1 per cent.'

The survey also showed that as employers seek greater flexibility to manage manpower, term contract employment continued to increase, driven by those on short term contracts.

- The Straits Times