THE Singapore labour market showed resilience and grew for the first time amid an economic recession in 2009, with overall unemployment rate falling to 2.1 per cent last December.
It weathered the 2009 recession better than previous downturns, supported by the Resilience Package and concerted tripartite efforts to save jobs.
Employment rebounded in the second half of the year, with employment gains for residents while the foreigners' share fell, according to a labour market report for 2009 released by the Ministry of Manpower on Monday morning.
Total employment in 2009 grew by 37,600 or 1.3 per cent last year despite the economy contracting by 2.2 per cent. Local employment rose by 41,800 or 2.2 per cent, with most gains in the fourth quarter, propelled by hiring in the services sector for the year-end festivities and integrated resorts.
Employment only started to fall in the first quarter, three quarters after gross domestic product (GDP) started declining in the second quarter of 2008. This was unlike previous downturns in 2001 and 1997/98 when employment lagged GDP by two quarters, said the report.
With strong employment growth in the last quarter, the overall unemployment rate fell from a seasonally adjusted 3.4 per cent in September to 2.1 per cent in December. As the economy emerged from the recession, redundancies fell for the third successive quarter to 2,220 in Q4, returning to to pre-recession quarterly levels.
- The Straits Times
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