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Overall, you've found relevant and good article to start. Please go ahead to find more article to deepen your understanding of issues you are discussing - e.g. why govt is trying to help people upgrade skills, give out money to people to deal with electricity & water bill increase, why some sectors of SG economy is doing better than the other, etc. If you want to show me some of the writing you've done, pls let me know. A good research project will look as if one person wrote the whole thing (even though it's done by a group of people). All the best

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Analysis:
-Unemployment rate has increased
-Singapore is facing the highest unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2017

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In the first quarter, the jobless rate fell for residents (2.8 percent from 3 percent in the December quarter) and was unchanged for citizens (3.0 percent).

Total employment declined by 2,100, after a seasonal increase in the preceding quarter. The decline occurred in construction ( -5,900 from -5,700 in the prior quarter) and manufacturing (-4,300 from -1,300), largely due to fewer Work Permit Holders. In contrast, employment in services increased by 7.900 (from 18,200).

Some 2,100 workers were laid off, compared to 3,680 in the previous quarter and 4,000 a year ago. The decline over the first quarter 2018 occurred in manufacturing, services and construction. Services continued to form the bulk of retrenchments (60 percent) , followed by manufacturing (23 percent) and construction (16 percent).

For full 2017, unemployment rate in Singapore came in at 2.2 percent, the most since 2010.

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Singapore Unemployment Rate | 1986-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar

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Singapore's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged down to 2 percent in the first three months of 2018 from 2.1 percent in the previous period, preliminary estimates showed. It was the lowest jobless rate since the March quarter 2016.

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-GDP
-Unemployment
-Inflation

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-There are actually more people who are unemployed that is actually reported.
-There are also a large number of discouraged workers in Singapore
-There are now a lot of people who have degrees, but they are doing the lower skilled jobs, such as driving cabs, thus there is an underutilization of the graduates of Singapore.

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In March, Singapore's unemployment rate reached its highest level since December 2009 ( 3 burning questions on jobs; May 7).

However, the number of people out of work may actually be under-reported.

Unemployment statistics in Singapore are derived from a representative sample of households, and not from records from the Central Provident Fund or Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.

The database of job registrants with career centres operated by the community development councils is also not used as a point of reference.

"Discouraged workers" are another group.

These jobseekers may not be able to find employment over a prolonged period of time, perhaps because they do not possess the requisite skills or experience for a job, or turn down job offers because of low pay or poor prospects.

They are deemed to be not searching for work because they believe their search will not yield results, so they are taken off the unemployed list.

Singapore is also experiencing greater underemployment among degree holders.

There are already many degree holders in jobs that require a lower skill set than they possess, such as engineers selling property or insurance.

Many older university graduates who have become structurally unemployed are now stuck in low-skilled jobs.

It is no longer uncommon to meet cabbies or private-hire drivers who are retrenched professionals, managers and executives. They ply the trade simply because they have no other alternative.

Displaced workers who are given a generous severance package have the luxury of time to look for another job commensurate with their experience and qualifications.

However, most workers are laid off with only their notice period as compensation.

The Government has to do more for this group of unemployed Singaporeans.
Simon Owen Khoo

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Unemployment numbers may be higher than thought

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In March, Singapore's unemployment rate reached its highest level since December 2009 ( 3 burning questions on jobs; May 7). However, the number of people out of work may actually be under-reported. Unemployment statistics in Singapore are derived from a representative sample of households, and not from records from the Central Provident Fund or Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.

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Analysis:
- global economy is improving
- SG is dependent on exports, so global economic growth is good for us
- global economic growth does not mean stronger growth for SG’s economy, or more jobs across all sectors. This is due to cyclical and structural issues, thus showing that SG is still facing recession
- Unemployment rate remains high despite global economic growth
- due to mostly structural issues, SG’s economy is not following the recovery trend of the global economy

-Conclusion: Hence, improving global economic growth may not mean immediate economic growth for SG.

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The world economy seems finally to be taking a turn for the better after years of languishing in a slump.

While this is good news for trade-dependent Singapore, it might not immediately translate into stronger growth or more job creation across all sectors. This is because the dip in the global economic cycle only partly accounted for tepid growth rates in many sectors here. Deeper structural issues - which are tougher to resolve and will take a longer time to work through - have also had a role to play.

While some manufacturing segments are benefiting from the improving global economy, the outlook for Singapore remains cautious, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said.

It noted in its latest biannual Macroeconomic Review that growth has picked up but in a "volatile and uneven" manner. Trade-related sectors, especially electronics manufacturing, have enjoyed a significant turnaround. But other sectors which rely largely on local demand continue to struggle.

These include retail and food services, which are facing both cyclical and structural challenges amid a soft labour market and subdued consumer confidence, as well as greater competitive pressures, the MAS report said.

The fact that growth is not yet picking up across the board was borne out in preliminary labour-market statistics released yesterday by the Manpower Ministry. The data showed the overall unemployment rate edged up to 2.3 per cent in the first quarter, rising to rates last seen in the fourth quarter of 2009 following the global financial crisis.

It will take more than stronger global growth to drive a turnaround in the job market, where retrenchments have risen on the back of disruptive technologies. Some sectors are also undergoing fundamental changes and challenges will persist even if economic growth picks up.

These longer-term factors mean it might be some time before the effects of improving global economic growth are felt across the broader economy.

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The world economy seems finally to be taking a turn for the better after years of languishing in a slump. While this is good news for trade-dependent Singapore, it might not immediately translate into stronger growth or more job creation across all sectors.

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Article 3 (Inflation)
Analysis: Inflation for Singapore has been on the rise since the end of 2016, with 0.2% in dec16 to 0.6% in Jan 17 to 0.7% in Feb17.

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Consumer prices in Singapore rose by 0.2 percent year-on-year in March of 2018, easing markedly from a 0.5 percent rise in the prior month while markets estimated a 0.5 percent gain. Food prices rose slightly softer while cost of transport slumped and cost of housing continued to fall.

In March, prices of food advanced 1.4 percent from a year earlier, after a 1.5 percent rise in February. Among food excluding food servicing services, cost increased for: milk, cheese & eggs (1.2 percent); oils & fats (3.6 percent); sugar, preserves & confectionery (1.9 percent); other food (1.6 percent); vegetables (1.3 percent), and and non-alcoholic beverages (0.7 percent). Meantime, prices dropped for meat (-0.4 percent) and bread & cereals (-0.1 percent). Among food servicing services, prices went up for all categories: restaurant foods (1.6 percent); fast food (016 percent); hawker food including food courts (1.5 percent), and catered food (1 percent).

Also, cost went up at a slower pace for healthcare (2.1 percent from 2.5 percent in February), mainly due to a 2.7 percent rise in medical & dental treatment and a 0.3 percent gain in medical products, appliances & equipment) and recreation & culture (0.6 percent from 1.6 percent), driven by a 1 percent rise in recreation & entertainment and a 0.3 percent rise in holiday expenses. In addition, cost of household durables & services rose by 0.7 percent (from 0.8 percent, largely due to a 1.9 percent increase in household services & supplies). Meanwhile, cost went up faster than a month earlier for: education (3 percent from 2.9 percent rise in the preceding month, due to a 3 percent rise in tuition & other fees and a 0.3 percent gain in school textbooks & related study guides); miscellaneous goods & services (1 percent from 0.4 percent), due to a 6.4 percent rise in alcoholic drinks & tobacco and a 0.4 percent rise in other miscellaneous expenditure and clothing & footwear (1.2 percent from 0.7 percent).

On the other hand, cost fell for transport (-0.5 percent from 0.6 percent), largely due to a 0.6 percent drop in private road transport and a 1.1 percent decrease in public road transport. Also, cost dropped further for housing & utilities (-2 percent from -2.1 percent, mainly due to a 3.4 percent decline in accomodation) and communication (-0.3 percent from -0.1 percent).

Core consumer prices which exclude costs of accommodation and private road transport, increased by 1.5 percent, following a 1.7. percent gain in February and slightly below expectations of 1.7 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices declined by 0.2 percent in March, reversing from a 0.5 percent rise in a month earlier.

Statistics Singapore l Chusnul Ch Manan| chusnul@tradingeconomics.com
4/23/2018 6:52:36 AM

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Singapore Inflation Rate | 1962-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast

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Consumer prices in Singapore rose by 0.2 percent year-on-year in March of 2018, easing markedly from a 0.5 percent rise in the prior month while market estimated a 0.5 percent gain. Food prices rose slightly softer while cost of transport slumped and cost of housing continued to fall.

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Analysis:
"With productivity, the economy can continue to grow, even though our workforce is not expanding and even though we do not have more workers. We can produce more, we can be more prosperous, and our workers can earn more,"  - Shows the advantages of an increasing GDP

"The challenge is to keep this up - to continue innovating and raising productivity not just one year at a time, but for many more years to come. Some sectors are already doing that; others not yet." - Even though Singapore faces an increasing GDP, it does not get complacent but instead continues striving for improvement in sectors that are not doing well. (where its success lies in)

"It's inevitable because companies have to continue to restructure, and as they do so, some workers will be displaced. That's why our unemployment rate has crept up a little and reached 2.3 per cent." -Shows that Singapore faces structural unemployment, which is causing a large part of its unemployment problem.

Government efforts to increase GDP

1.the government will do its best to create new jobs by bringing in new businesses and investments, as well as expanding existing businesses.

2. business-friendly environment in place with new jobs that will entice people to come here.

3.The Economic Development Board has been working hard on this front by attracting multinational firms to invest in Singapore, and Mr Lee cited a number of major investments in 2016.

4.Electronics giant Micron invested more than S$5 billion to expand its Woodlands facility, creating 500 jobs in the process, while Internet search engine Google hired a thousand people for its new campus in Mapletree Business City. Chemical firm Evonik, meanwhile, broke ground for a second plant in Jurong, investing S$800 million and creating 150 jobs.

5. the government is also busy helping small and medium enterprises to upgrade, venture abroad, expand and build new capabilities. These include both the high-tech companies and traditional ones that are able to re-invent themselves and do new things."

What more we can do to help out the nation's economy

1. need to help workers who lose jobs to find alternative work, especially the PMET (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) group.

2.The businesses have to restructure to survive.

3.workers in Singapore must do all they can to constantly upgrade their skills, or risk losing out to other countries like China.

4. He said: "If we strengthen the tripartite system, and remain united, if the labour movement remains strong, takes care of our workers and makes them co-owners of our system, and if all our segments of society - workers, employers, managers and professionals, as well as foremen and rank-and-file - sacrifice equally when sacrifice is called for, and share in the fruits of success when things go well, I am confident that we can overcome the challenges and emerge stronger."

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Singapore

SINGAPORE'S economy expanded by a better-than-expected 2 per cent in 2016, and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong thinks there's a "good chance" that growth this year can exceed that figure.

If realised, this would put the 2017 GDP figure at the higher end of the government's official forecast of between one and 3 per cent.

Sounding an upbeat tone at the May Day rally on Monday, he noted that global growth is looking up and this makes him "cautiously optimistic" about the Singapore economy this year.

"(Growth) is uneven still; not every sector is doing well. Some sectors, like retail, are still struggling a bit. But overall, we are improving," he told some 1,500 union leaders and tripartite partners gathered at Our Tampines Hub for the annual rally.

What was more encouraging about last year's economic growth was the fact that productivity levels had improved, said Mr Lee, noting that there was one per cent productivity growth in 2016, much higher than in 2013, 2014 and 2015 when it was nearly zero.

"With productivity, the economy can continue to grow, even though our workforce is not expanding and even though we do not have more workers. We can produce more, we can be more prosperous, and our workers can earn more," he said.

"The challenge is to keep this up - to continue innovating and raising productivity not just one year at a time, but for many more years to come. Some sectors are already doing that; others not yet."

In his 45-minute speech, the prime minister made the point that economic restructuring is a continuing process that is not without some pain.

The number of redundancies went up last year, and Mr Lee warned of a "steady trickle" of redundancies in 2017 even with better economic growth.

"It's inevitable because companies have to continue to restructure, and as they do so, some workers will be displaced. That's why our unemployment rate has crept up a little and reached 2.3 per cent. 2.3 per cent is a bit high for us, but it's much lower than unemployment rate in all the other developed countries where it is typically between 5 and 10 per cent," he said.

"We have to understand this trend, but at the same time we have to work hard to resist it, and to keep our workers in jobs," he added.

Mr Lee spoke of how the government will do its best to create new jobs by bringing in new businesses and investments, as well as expanding existing businesses.

This has been Singapore's "winning formula" for the last 50 years because there needs to be a business-friendly environment in place with new jobs that will entice people to come here.

The Economic Development Board has been working hard on this front by attracting multinational firms to invest in Singapore, and Mr Lee cited a number of major investments in 2016.

Electronics giant Micron invested more than S$5 billion to expand its Woodlands facility, creating 500 jobs in the process, while Internet search engine Google hired a thousand people for its new campus in Mapletree Business City. Chemical firm Evonik, meanwhile, broke ground for a second plant in Jurong, investing S$800 million and creating 150 jobs.

At the same time, the government is also busy helping small and medium enterprises to upgrade, venture abroad, expand and build new capabilities.

These include both the high-tech companies and traditional ones that are able to re-invent themselves and do new things.

Mr Lee also spoke of the need to help workers who lose jobs to find alternative work, especially the PMET (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) group.

"The businesses have to restructure to survive, and technology is disrupting everything. So redundancies will continue even as our economy grows," he said, adding that he was particularly concerned about sectors such as marine and offshore that are not doing so well.

Mr Lee reiterated the point that workers in Singapore must do all they can to constantly upgrade their skills, or risk losing out to other countries like China.

"We have got to take worker upgrading very seriously. In other countries, workers know that they need to work hard to keep their jobs. They are hungry. We are hungry, we are working and they are working hard too," he said.

As he wrapped up the rally, Mr Lee said that while he was in no doubt that Singapore would face many challenges ahead, the outlook remained positive.

He said: "If we strengthen the tripartite system, and remain united, if the labour movement remains strong, takes care of our workers and makes them co-owners of our system, and if all our segments of society - workers, employers, managers and professionals, as well as foremen and rank-and-file - sacrifice equally when sacrifice is called for, and share in the fruits of success when things go well, I am confident that we can overcome the challenges and emerge stronger."
More May Day Rally reports:

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GDP growth in 2017 may exceed 2%: PM Lee

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THE BUSINESS TIMES Government & Economy - SINGAPORE'S economy expanded by a better-than-expected 2 per cent in 2016, and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong thinks there's a "good chance" that growth this year can exceed that figure.. Read more at The Business Times.

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Analysis:

“Singapore's electricity tariff is affected by prevailing gas prices and global oil prices, which picked up in the second quarter of last year, and will likely average higher levels this year.”

-We are facing a rise in oil and gas prices globally. The rise in gas and oil prices causes a cost-push inflation on Singapore. As Singapore do not have natural resources, Singapore has to buy natural resources like oil from other countries. Oil and gas is often used as a raw material to produce many other products. If the prices of oil and gas increases, the cost needed to produce items will increase. This will lead to an increase in the general price level in the economy due to the pressure on the cost of production.

"In line with this, the electricity tariff… reversed its downward trend to post an increase in the third quarter of 2016 and is generally expected to be higher over the coming quarters," Dr Koh said.”

-The rise in gas and oil prices have lead to the price for electricity to increase and will be expected to continue increasing over the next few months.

”Along with upcoming increases in water prices - with the first phase to start in July - "the various administrative price adjustments will collectively contribute around 0.2 percentage point to inflation in 2017", Dr Koh said.”

-The government expects that the inflation rate will increase in July due to the increase in water price.

“But he told Mr Zaqy that the official inflation forecasts do not take into account the offsets provided by U-Save rebates, which are considered income transfer instead of item price adjustments.”

-The inflation rate may not be accurate as it does not take into consideration the household that receives help from the government on the “U-Save rebates”.

“Utilities-Save, or U-Save, rebates are disbursed four times a year to help households offset some of their utility charges. The most recent instalment - last month - benefited some 880,000 Singaporean Housing Board households.”

-The government is trying to help households that are unable to keep up with the inflation rates.

“The Government will continue to closely monitor the impact of policy-related price adjustments, which will be smoothed out as far as possible to minimise the impact on the cost of living, said Dr Koh.”

-Government will be monitoring the prices closely so that they can reduce the impacts on the rising cost of living that will affect the citizens.

"The difficulty is that oil and gas prices are not within our control, and we have to adjust as and when these prices start to fluctuate globally," he said.”

-Since oil and gas prices are not within the control of the government, it is difficult to minimise the impact the rise in prices may have on Singapore’s inflation rate. The country may have a higher cost of living if gas and oil prices continues to rise.

Conclusion:

Singapore will be expecting increasing inflation rate as the oil prices starts to rise globally.

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The pace of inflation will pick up this year as rising oil prices are set to drive up electricity and petrol prices, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon told Parliament yesterday.

Increases in the price of water and carpark charges will have less impact, and will contribute to only a small and temporary rise in inflation, he added.

All factors considered, the official headline inflation rate is expected to be between 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent for all of 2017, up from 0.5 per cent negative inflation last year.

Singapore's electricity tariff is affected by prevailing gas prices and global oil prices, which picked up in the second quarter of last year, and will likely average higher levels this year.

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"In line with this, the electricity tariff... reversed its downward trend to post an increase in the third quarter of 2016 and is generally expected to be higher over the coming quarters," Dr Koh said.

He added: "However, notwithstanding the increase, it should be noted that the current tariff remains around 17 per cent lower than the peak reached in the second quarter of 2014."

Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC) asked about the current and expected impact of recent price increase announcements on the cost of living.

The headline inflation rate in March was 0.7 per cent, unchanged from February, ahead of a temporary rise in inflation that the Ministry of Trade and Industry has forecast owing partly to the increase in carpark charges, which took effect in December last year.

Along with upcoming increases in water prices - with the first phase to start in July - "the various administrative price adjustments will collectively contribute around 0.2 percentage point to inflation in 2017", Dr Koh said.

GLOBAL MARKET FORCES
In line with this, the electricity tariff... reversed its downward trend to post an increase in the third quarter of 2016 and is generally expected to be higher over the coming quarters... However, notwithstanding the increase, it should be noted that the current tariff remains around 17 per cent lower than the peak reached in the second quarter of 2014.''
SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY KOH POH KOON

But he told Mr Zaqy that the official inflation forecasts do not take into account the offsets provided by U-Save rebates, which are considered income transfer instead of item price adjustments.

Utilities-Save, or U-Save, rebates are disbursed four times a year to help households offset some of their utility charges. The most recent instalment - last month - benefited some 880,000 Singaporean Housing Board households.

The Government will continue to closely monitor the impact of policy-related price adjustments, which will be smoothed out as far as possible to minimise the impact on the cost of living, said Dr Koh.

"The difficulty is that oil and gas prices are not within our control, and we have to adjust as and when these prices start to fluctuate globally," he said.

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Inflation set to pick up with rise in oil prices

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The pace of inflation will pick up this year as rising oil prices are set to drive up electricity and petrol prices, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon told Parliament yesterday.. Read more at straitstimes.com.