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Unemployment Rates of Singapore and Other Regions.

Singapore’s unemployment rate at the end of Q2 2010 is 2.2%

Overall employment in Singapore has risen for four quarters in a row, bringing the jobless rate to 2.2 per cent after the end of Q2 2010. From April to June 2010, 24,900 jobs were added in the second quarter, bringing the total gains in the first half year to 61,400, against a loss of 13,800 jobs a year ago. Job vacancies in Singapore rose by 73 per cent over the year, fuelled by strong economic expansion. As vacancies rose and unemployment stabilised, the seasonally adjusted ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons increased to 1.04 in June, from 0.90 in March. 'Unemployment has stabilised, after declining sharply at the end of 2009. This marks the first time that job vacancies have slightly outnumbered job seekers in this economic recovery,' said the Ministry of Manpower in its Q2 labour market report. The Ministry added that that long-term unemployment also improved significantly. The number of residents who had been looking for work for at least 25 weeks fell substantially from 25,800 or 1.3 per cent of the resident labour force in June last year to 16,500 or 0.8 this June. Their share among the pool of job seekers also improved from 22 per cent to 20 per cent over the year. Labour productivity also continued its upturn for the fourth consecutive quarter. Year on year growth rose by 15 per cent in the second quarter, compared to 14 per cent in the previous quarter.

Taiwan’s unemployment rate falls to 5.17% in August 2010

Taiwan’s jobless rate declined in August to 5.17 per cent, dropped by 0.03 per cent compared to a month earlier, and a drop by 0.96 per cent from a year ago. Liu Tian Syh - deputy director of the Taiwan’s DGBAS (Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics), attributed the recovering job market to increased job offerings by the private sector and the government’s short-term employment promotion campaigns. According to sources from the Taiwan Council for Economic Planning and Development, the government has created some 115,000 new jobs up to August. A series of additional programs kicking off this month will generate some 70,000 new openings in the months to come.

South Korea's jobless rate falls to 3.3% in August 2010

South Korea's unemployment rate fell in August from a year earlier as the economic recovery encouraged private employers to create more jobs. The jobless rate was registered as 3.3 per cent in August, down from 3.7 per cent in August 2009, and down compared to 3.7 percent in July 2010. The rise in employment was attributed to more recruitment in the manufacturing, healthcare and construction sectors. August marked the fifth month in a row that the jobless rate was in the three percent range in South Korea, after falling from 4.1 per cent in March to 3.8 percent in April.

Malaysia’s jobless rate falls to 3.3% in July 2010

Malaysia's unemployment rate decreased in July to 3.3 per cent from 3.7 per cent in the previous month, the Malaysia’s Department of Statistics reported. The increase in labour force was attributed by the growth in the number of employed persons by 195,300 persons to 11.39 million. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed declined by 32,700 to 393,900 persons. Data showed that the labor force participation rate was 63.4 per cent in July, up from 62.8 per cent in June. The increase of labor force participation rate was driven by the rise of labour force to 11.78 million from 11.62 million persons in June.

Hong Kong's unemployment rate drops to 4.2% in Jun-Aug 2010

Hong Kong's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 per cent during the period from June to August, 0.1 per cent lower than the three-month period from May to July, according to the latest workforce statistics released by the special administrative region's Census and Statistics Department. Decreases in the unemployment rate were in sectors such as art, entertainment, health care, commercial service, building decoration, repair and maintenance. From June to August, total employment rose to 3.51 million, reflecting an increase of 12,400 compared with the figure for the period from May to July. The number of unemployment rose by 100 to 167,500 from 167,400.

Japan’s unemployment rate drops to 5.2% in July 2010

Japan’s Internal Affairs Ministry unveils that its unemployment rate unexpectedly edged lower for the first time in six months to 5.2 per cent in July as the economy added more jobs.

US unemployment rate increased to 9.6% in Aug 2010

The US Labour Department has informed that the unemployment rate in US has risen to 9.6 per cent for the month of August. The figure was recorded as 9.5per cent for the month of July this year.

Turkey’s unemployment rate down to 12% in 1st half of 2010

Turkish State Minister Cevdet Yilmaz said that Turkey’s unemployment rate decreased to 12 per cent in the first half of 2010 from 14 per cent last year.