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SINGAPORE : Economists at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are forecasting that 135,000 jobs will be created next year.
That is less than the estimated 200,000 for this year but it will still be the fourth straight year that jobs growth has come in above 100,000.
Overall, economists at NTU are optimistic about the economic outlook for 2008.
They expect job creation to remain strong with some 135,000 new positions. This will see the unemployment rate dropping to 2%, down from 2.3% currently.
Wage increases are forecast to go up a lower 5.1%, compared to 8.1% this year.
Economists said the flexibility of Singapore's foreign worker policy will keep a lid on wage pressures.
Said NTU's Assistant Professor Randolph Tan: "This huge employment increase that we've seen in the last 2 or 3 years will have spillover effect over the coming years. The second factor is productivity increases. We expect to see fairly good productivity improvements over the coming quarters."
"And they are already beginning to show. There has been an improvement in productivity levels. These two factors will mean that while there are a lot more job openings. These jobs openings can basically be filled ultimately."
Meanwhile, higher inflation is also expected to persist into the first half of 2008.
"Inflation will go up for another half year or so mainly because of the one-time effect of the GST rate increase. It (Inflation) will sort of taper off in the second half of next year, but we don't really see it coming down very much simply because when you have robust growth this year and next, cost pressures build up. Wages have been going up and eventually it'll translate into a higher rate, so we still predict that inflation next year is going to be above 2 percent," said NTU's Assistant Professor Choy Keen Meng.
The overall economy is forecast to grow by 7.5% next year, with faster growth expected in manufacturing, transport and storage and information and communication sectors.
NTU economists are expecting the growth in construction and financial services sectors to be slightly slower next year, but they said the figures will still be healthy at 14% for construction and 11% for financial services. - CNA /ls
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