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Singapore's jobless rate remains low in 2014

Xinhua, January 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore's jobless rate remained low as the labor market remained tight, with the overall unemployment rate for 2014 at 2 percent, the Ministry of Manpower said on Friday.

The overall seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 1.9 percent for December, while the resident unemployment rate fell to 2.6 percent and the citizen unemployment rate fell to 2.6 percent. The ministry said that more locals were employed while the growth of foreign workers continued to moderate.

For the whole of 2014, the jobless rate for residents was 2.7 percent and that for citizens was 2.9 percent, broadly unchanged from the previous year.

Authorities in Singapore tightened immigration and foreign labor policies to push for an increase in productivity aimed at economic restructuring and upgrading.

The ministry also said there was a "sustained increase" in median income for Singaporeans over the last five years. The median monthly income from work of full-time employed citizens increased by 30 percent to 3,566 Singapore dollars (2,641 U.S. dollars) in 2014.

Low-wage workers also saw an increase in income. Income at the 20th percentile of full-time employed citizens rose by 26 percent over the past five years to 1,856 Singapore dollars (1,375 U.S. dollars) in 2014. Endi