Economic Boom Pulls Down Singapore Jobless Rate To 10-year Low

October 31, 2007 11:14 p.m. EST

Singapore, Singapore (AHN) - The unemployment rate in Singapore for the third quarter of 2007 fell 1.7 percent, the lowest recorded by the country in 10 years. According to Associated Press, the Manpower Ministry said demand for new workers continue to grow due to a robust economy, thus lowering the number of jobless people in the island state.

From July to September, 57,600 new jobs were created, the ministry said. A total 34,500 jobs were created by the services industry, 11,800 by manufacturing firms and 10,800 by the construction sector.

The number of new jobs created was lower than the 64,400 created from April to June this year, but the jobless rate for the same period was at 2.3 percent.

The third quarter figure for new jobs is higher than the 43,000 jobs created in the same period last year.

One-thousand seven-hundred workers, mostly from the manufacturing industry, lost their jobs in the third quarter. The figure is an improvement from the 1,918 workers who lost their jobs in the second quarter and better than the 2,472 jobs lost in the third quarter of 2006.