Singapore, Nov 01: Unemployment levels in Singapore reached 5.9 per cent in September, just shy of the 6-per-cent peak during the city-state's 1986 recession, official figures showed today. The rate jumped from 4.5 per cent in June, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), spurred by an economic recovery that has prompted more people to look for employment.
The quarter-on-quarter shift was also attributed to the gloom in June that drove many to drop out of the job market for training or further studies.
''Companies affected by the SARS outbreak in the previous quarter have started hiring against the backdrop of a strengthening economy,'' the ministry said. From July to September, 1,000 net jobs were created in the economy for the first time in two years, reversing the 25,963 net jobs lost in the April-June quarter, when Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome was at its peak.
The key manufacturing sector saw its smallest loss in nearly three years, a contraction of 3,500.
Acting manpower minister Ng Eng Hen has said the jobless rate will probably rise to 5.5 per cent or higher by the end of the year, although the economic outlook was brightening in the next 12 to 18 months. Bureau Report