Singapore's Unemployment Rate Up 2 Pct Amid Softer Economy

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, July 30 (Bernama) -- Singapore's employment grew at a moderate pace, while unemployment edged up slightly amid softer economic conditions, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Key preliminary findings from the “Employment Situation, Second Quarter 2015” report released by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department, MOM showed a moderate pace of job gains against softer GDP growth in the second quarter of 2015. The unemployment rate edged up after trending downwards for the past four quarters, but remained low. Layoffs continued to fall for the second consecutive quarter. Preliminary estimates showed that the overall seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up to 2.0 per cent in June 2015 from 1.8 per cent in March 2015. Unemployment rose among residents to 2.8 per cent from 2.5 per cent and citizens (to 2.9 per cent from 2.6 per cent). These are similar to the unemployment situation a year ago (in June 2014). After contracting last quarter (-6,100), overall employment grew by 15,700 in the second quarter of 2015, supported by upsurges in construction and services. However, on a whole, employment growth in the first half of 2015 has moderated compared to a year ago. There were 3,633,500 employed persons in June 2015, which was 2.4 per cent higher than a year ago compared with 2.7 per cent in March 2015. Layoffs declined for the second consecutive quarter. Some 3,100 workers were laid off, down from 3,500 in the preceding quarter. More comprehensive labour market data will be released in the “Labour Market Report, Second Quarter 2015” on Sept 15, 2015. -- BERNAMA