Search the Community

Unemployment rate for over-30s creeps up This group of job-seekers runs the risk of skills obsolescence, says Manpower Minister 04:45 AM Jun 16, 2012 by Sara Grosse SINGAPORE - As Singapore's labour market shows signs of softening, Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin yesterday flagged an area of concern: The long-term unemployment rate, while still low, has crept up over the year for residents aged 30 and over. For residents aged 30 to 39, the figure rose from 0.3 per cent to 0.4 per cent, while for mature residents aged 40 and over, the figure rose from 0.7 per cent to 0.8 per cent. "This group of job-seekers remains unemployed and is still unable to secure a new job after an extended period of time," wrote Mr Tan on The Manpower Blog. "Thus, skills obsolescence could potentially set in." He gave assurance that the Government will work closely with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency to help these job-seekers with training and finding new jobs. The report released yesterday showed that job creation had slowed in the first three months of the year with 27,200 jobs created, down from 28,300 a year ago. Unemployment rose slightly to 2.1 per cent in March from 2.0 per cent last December, while the number of job vacancies fell by 5.1 per cent over the year to 46,800 in March. Inflation continued to weigh down on wages, with real average monthly earnings falling by 3.9 per cent in the first quarter from last year, following a 1.4-per-cent drop in the fourth quarter of last year. Recruiters told Channel NewsAsia that they were concerned about Singapore's labour productivity, which fell by 2.2 per cent in the first quarter after declining by 0.5 per cent in the previous quarter. Some, like Randstad Regional Director Karin Clarke, said it suggests that firms are not improving their productivity despite challenges in finding the right talent. As for the dip in employment rate, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises President Chan Chong Beng said: "That small increase in the unemployment rate could possibly be offset later on by the cutting-down of the dependency ratio ceiling." Meanwhile, 2,600 workers were made redundant in the first quarter of this year, down from 3,250 in last year's fourth quarter. URL http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC12...r-30s-creeps-up Copyright 2012 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

Hi all, just came back from the Genting/KL trip last wkend... On my way back, I saw one corolla. He was AMAZINGLY FAST!!!!!! He overtook me defintely more than 160km/h and at one pt, we both had to slow down to around 120-130km/h due to cars hogging on the rite lane. When the lane was clear, i picked up speed and when i got slightly closer to him, he stepped hard on the acc and he just pulled away from me!!!!! SCARY!!!! really pull away! (of cos not comparable to a sports car) but definitely too fast for a corolla!! in a matter of 20+ or 30s, he was so far alway from me and i was already doing 170km/h and still pulling away.. when i reach 180km/h, i close throttle due to the safety of everyone onboard and he was no where to be seen after that (my frend had a video clip filmed in his hp, interested personels can get it from meh.. hehee)!! CRAZY!! i estimated he could haf hit 200km/h or thereabts.. but i driving a FL N16 and i hope my meters reading fine.. cos from paper, it says a top of 185km/h, but the highest i hit was 190km/h. Think still can go alittle furhter.. but balls shrunk.. hehe.. Corolla drivers.... pls make some inputs... hehe.. my uncle drives a 1.6L corolla.. did 180km/h, still can go but from him, it takes some time to hit 180km/h. wats wrong with tat corolla! hehee.. i was concentrating too hard on the rd but my frend said its a 1.5l model.. GOOSEBUMPS!!!