These are the key findings from the comprehensive Labour Force Survey conducted in mid-2009 by the Ministry of Manpower's Research and Statistics Department.

More comprehensive data from the mid-year Labour Force Survey 2009 will be published on Feb 1 next year. 

The report is available online on the Ministry of Manpower's website at http://www.mom.gov.sg/mrsd/publication.

Unemployment rose

• There were 5.9 per cent or 116,300 persons (non-seasonally adjusted) in the resident labour force who were unemployed in June 2009, significantly higher than 4 per cent or 76,200 a year ago. The rise was felt across all occupations and industries.
• The unemployment rate increased over the year from 4.3 per cent to 7.1 per cent for production & related workers; sharper than the increase from 5.8 per cent to 7.6 per cent for clerical, sales & service workers; and 2.5 per cent to 3.9 per cent for professionals, managers, executives & technicians. Reflecting their higher incidence of layoffs, manufacturing saw a larger increase over the year in unemployment rate (from 3.8 per cent to 6.4 per cent) than construction (from 2.8 per cent to 4.1 per cent) and services (from 3.6 per cent to 5.3 per cent).
• Amid the global recession, the proportion of residents aged 25 to 64 in employment fell for the first time in six years to 75.8 per cent in June 2009 from the peak of 77.0 per cent a year ago. This mainly reflected the decline in employment rate for residents in the prime-working age group of 25 to 54 from 81.4 per cent to 80.1 per cent.

More older workers employed

• Despite the economic downturn, the employment rate of older residents aged 55 to 64 remained at the record high of 57.2 per cent reached in 2008. The rate for older men increased from 73.8 per cent in 2008 to a new high of 74.7 per cent in 2009, offsetting the slight decrease for older women from 40.5 per cent to 40.1 per cent.
• Even though it had decreased, the employment rate for prime-working age men in Singapore remained higher than in many developed and Asian economies.
• The rate for older men in Singapore was also one of the highest internationally.
• The employment rate among females in Singapore generally lagged those in developed countries such as Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Income growth flat

• As a result of the weak economy, growth in income from work was largely flat in 2009, following strong gains in the preceding two years.
• The median monthly income among full-timers rose slightly by 0.5 per cent from $2,590 in June 2008 to $2,600 in June 2009, compared to gains of 11 per cent in 2008 and 7.7 per cent in 2007.
• Part-timers also posted higher median income of $620 compared with $600 a year ago.
• However, the median income for all employed residents dipped by 1.2 per cent from $2,450 in 2008 to $2,420 in 2009, as part-timers' share of employment rose.
• The number of resident employees on term contracts rose 4.3 per cent to 197,200 in 2009, faster than the 0.8 per cent increase in permanent employees. Consequently, the share of resident employees on term contracts rose from 12.4 per cent in 2008 to 12.7 per cent in 2009, continuing the uptrend observed since the data were first collected in 2006.
• The growth in 2009 was mainly driven by those on short-term contracts of less than three months (including casual/on-call workers), reflecting economic uncertainty.

Resident labour force grew

• Reflecting faster growth in the resident population, the resident labour force rose by 3 per cent over the year in June 2009, up from the increase of 2.7 per cent in 2008 and 2 per cent in 2007.
• As at June 2009, there were 1.99 million residents in the labour force comprising 1.13 million (57 per cent) males and 0.86 million (43 per cent) females.