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SINGAPORE: The robust economic performance led to another record-breaking year for employment creation, with employment rising by a record 234,900 or 9.4 per cent in 2007, said the Ministry of Manpower.
Local employment grew by 90,400 in 2007, comparable to the record 90,900 gain in 2006, according to data released by the ministry on Friday.
Foreigners increased by a new high of 144,500, up from the 85,100 rise in 2006, enabling the economy to grow beyond the limits of Singapore's indigenous workforce.
Due to robust job creation, the seasonally adjusted overall and resident unemployment rates declined to 1.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent in December 2007, the lowest in a decade.
There were 37,400 job vacancies in December 2007, higher than 32,000 in the year before.
Nominal earnings also rose over the year by 6.2 per cent in 2007, up from 3.2 per cent in 2006, but lower than the 8.9 per cent during the last economic boom in 2000.
After accounting for inflation, the growth in real terms was 4.0 per cent in 2007, 2.2 per cent in 2006 and 7.5 per cent in 2000.
The number of workers retrenched last year is at a 14-year low of 7,675, and two-thirds of residents retrenched in private sector secured re-employment within six months after being retrenched in 2007.
One in three of the 2.73 million people employed in Singapore is a foreigner. As of December last year, there were 900,800 foreigners working in the city-state.
Despite the robust economic performance, productivity shrank 0.9 per cent last year as the growth in output has not kept pace with the record increase in manpower.
The last time productivity had contracted was during the economic downturn in 2001. - CNA/ac
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