Comments on: Breaking News: MOM’s 2nd quarter report on employment

By: HY

HY — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:16:56 +0000

Actually, I have some queries on the definition of unemployment. From this article…..Unemployed Persons refer to persons aged 15 years and over who were without work during the survey reference period but were available for work and were actively looking for a job. They include persons who were not working but were taking steps to start their own business or taking up a new job after the reference period.
So, does it mean that someone who has been unemployed long enough and stopped looking actively for a job, he is no longer considered as unemployed? I am sure there will be quite a number of such workers, such as PMETs who are in their 40s, 50s and older.

By: Pui yee

Pui yee — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 04:33:28 +0000

this is so typical of pappy-doggie style. release selectively, cherry-pick on the good ones, camouflage the bad news and self-claim “success”!

By: Kew Kah Fatt

Kew Kah Fatt — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 01:15:14 +0000

It is no use doing the sum or figure of employment. The cycle will repeat itself. With high prices we are going for another recession in the near future.

So be frugal with your money.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:39:35 +0000

Haha, I knew I should have triple checked b4 posting. Q12007 non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for residents is 3.4%, so the resident labour force in Q12007 is approximately 66,000 x 100/3.4 = 1.94 million. Instead of an increase of a quarter million, there is a fall of 40,000.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:35:34 +0000

That the number of unemployed residents jumped from 66,000 in Q12007 to 79,600 in Q22007 is not necessarily alarming. Perhaps such jumps happen every year between Q1 and Q2 i.e. it is a seasonal thing. You can verify this with 2006 or 2005 data.

The following puzzles me though:

In Q12007 the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for residents was estimated to be 4%.
That means that the resident labour force in Q12007 is approximately 66,000 x 100/4 = 1.65 million.

In Q22007 the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for residents was estimated to be 4.2%.
That means that the resident labour force in Q22007 is approximately 79,600 x 100/4.2 = 1.90 million.

Am I doing my sums wrong?

If not, is it likely to have the resident labour force increase by a quarter million in three months? Has this been happening seasonally as well?