S'pore jobless rate falls
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
SINGAPORE'S jobless rate fell to a six-year low in the second quarter and its workforce grew at the fastest pace since records began in 1980 in a further sign of a tight labour market that may push up wages and inflation.
Ministry of Manpower preliminary data yesterday showed the unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent in the second quarter from 2.9 percent in the first quarter, hitting its lowest level since the second quarter of 2001.
Employment rose by 61,900 in the three months to the end of June, the ministry said, compared with a rise of 49,400 in the first three months of the year, with more than half the new jobs created in the services industry.
Singapore's trade-dependent economy grew at an annualised 12.8 percent in the second quarter, its fastest clip in two years, driven by a manufacturing upswing and a construction boom.
Banks and fund management firms are also expanding fast to seize a slice of the fast-growing Asian wealth, leading to a shortage of private bankers serving the wealthy and ultra-rich.
"Today's labour market report reconfirms our view that domestic price pressures will push inflation higher in the second half of the year," said Matthew Hildebrandt, an economist at JP Morgan.
Singapore's government said last week that annual inflation had reached a one-year high in June.Reuters
Ministry of Manpower preliminary data yesterday showed the unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent in the second quarter from 2.9 percent in the first quarter, hitting its lowest level since the second quarter of 2001.
Employment rose by 61,900 in the three months to the end of June, the ministry said, compared with a rise of 49,400 in the first three months of the year, with more than half the new jobs created in the services industry.
Singapore's trade-dependent economy grew at an annualised 12.8 percent in the second quarter, its fastest clip in two years, driven by a manufacturing upswing and a construction boom.
Banks and fund management firms are also expanding fast to seize a slice of the fast-growing Asian wealth, leading to a shortage of private bankers serving the wealthy and ultra-rich.
"Today's labour market report reconfirms our view that domestic price pressures will push inflation higher in the second half of the year," said Matthew Hildebrandt, an economist at JP Morgan.
Singapore's government said last week that annual inflation had reached a one-year high in June.Reuters
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