News: The Straits Times -  1 February 2010


Resilient S'poreans kept jobless rate low
By Sue-ann Chia


(Picture: PM Lee chatting with Madam Lily Wee, as Madam Poh Siew Yong (left) and grassroots leaders look on. Mr Lee, who is an Ang Mo Kio GRC MP, gave out almost 300 hongbao to residents in his Teck Ghee ward yesterday. - ST Photo)


PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave credit yesterday to resilient Singaporeans for helping to keep last year's unemployment rate low.

He applauded their willingness to take on any available job to support themselves and their families, and noted that government programmes helped citizens keep jobs in what was one of the worst economic crises to hit Singapore.

'What gives me the most satisfaction is that through all these measures, we were able to keep our unemployment rate quite low and people could stay in their jobs,' he said at a hongbao presentation ceremony in his Teck Ghee constituency.

'So that apart from the help the Government gave them, the vast majority of Singaporeans were able to look after themselves, look after their families... and be assured that when they woke up in the morning, they had work to do.'

The end result was that unemployment here was kept relatively low.

'It went up a little bit, but now it has come back down,' he said.

The latest quarterly jobless rate dipped from 3.4 per cent last September to 2.1 per cent in December, according to Manpower Ministry figures released on Friday.

This was 'really very low, almost as low as it was before the crisis', he said.

The quarterly jobless rate among residents - made up of Singaporeans and permanent residents - also fell sharply from a six-year high of 5 per cent to 3 per cent in the same period. This led to an overall jobless rate of 3 per cent for the whole of last year - a figure economists consider full employment.

Said Mr Lee yesterday: 'It is a reflection of the policies we have taken as well as the attitudes of Singaporeans who were willing to adjust and take the work that is available to be done and to see (them) through a difficult time, and to see their families through.'

He cited how the Government responded swiftly to the recession last year through the Budget, which included a $20.5 billion Resilience Package.

This included, among other things, a Jobs Credit scheme which subsidised the wages of local workers.

Grassroots and community leaders reached out to more needy residents last year, he noted, adding: 'Our welfare payments have gone up, our food vouchers - we have given more. We have been able to make sure that people who have real difficulties, in Teck Ghee and Ang Mo Kio and all over Singapore, if they really need help, they can get help.'

Yesterday, Mr Lee, who is an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC, distributed almost 300 hongbao to residents in his Teck Ghee ward. They included Madam Lily Wee, 79, who lives in a two-room rental flat with her 93-year-old husband.

Mr Lee also spoke about the outlook for this year: 'We expect things to be better. We are hoping for 3 per cent to 5 per cent growth, I think we'll be able to do that.'

But beyond this year, he said that how Singapore performed depended on the Government coming up with the right policies and citizens playing their part by upgrading skills for better jobs.

'Every one of us would want a better life,' he said.

'The only way to do that is to be able to get the skills and education, training and upgrading, to work hard and therefore, also work better...to be more productive and earn more for ourselves.'

- end of ST article