RTT News
1/30/2008 10:41:51 PM Singapore's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 1.6% in the fourth quarter from 1.7% in the third quarter, the Ministry of Manpower said Thursday. Economists expected the unemployment rate to be at 1.8% in the fourth quarter.
The report said that the number of new jobs created stood at 64, 200 during the fourth quarter, up from 51,500 in the same period a year earlier. In the third quarter, the number of new jobs created was 58,600.
For the whole of the year 2007, the unemployment rate declined to 2.1% on average from 2.7% in the year 2006, and 3.1% in 2005.
The Ministry said that the service sector witnessed the largest employment gains of 144,100 driven by a rapid increase in hirings across a wider range of industries led by financial and professional services. Meanwhile, the construction sector added 40,900 workers in the year 2007, doubling the increase logged in the year 2006.
http://www.rttnews.com/forex/economicnews.asp?date=01/30/2008&item=52
