Jobless rate for Singaporeans at 3% in Third Quarter 2011

It's higher than overall figure as 'unemployed foreigners have to leave'

By Cai Haoxiang, The Straits Times, 1 Nov 2011

THE three-month unemployment rate among Singaporeans was given for the first time by the Manpower Ministry yesterday, and it is 3 per cent as of September.

The rate, which used to be given once a year, is 0.1 point higher than the jobless rate of residents, which includes permanent residents.

In real numbers, it means about 8,100 PRs and 53,200 Singaporeans were out of work in September.

But the rate difference is much higher - 1 percentage point - when the Singaporean jobless rate is compared with the overall rate, which takes into account residents as well as foreigners.

The gaps are consistent in the data all the way back to September last year and economists said these are inevitable.

They explained that the rate for Singaporeans will always be higher than the overall rate because out-of-work foreigners have to leave the country and, therefore, will not figure in the calculations.

Thus when calculating the overall unemployment rate, the number of unemployed Singaporeans and PRs will be divided by the total number in the workforce that comprises 2.1 million Singaporeans and PRs plus the 1.1 million foreigners working here.

Foreigners make up around one-third of Singapore's workforce of 3.2 million.

Hence, the overall jobless rate will be about one-third less than the resident unemployment rate, pointed out labour economist Hui Weng Tat from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

In short, the overall rate is 2 per cent.