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Lelong ! Lelong ! Mini boom for pawnshops as economy turns for the worse Channel NewsAsia - 1 hour 27 minutes ago SINGAPORE: The economy may be down but business has been picking up for Singapore’s 110 pawnshops. In fact, there have already been four applications for pawnbroker’s licences in the last two months. Following a sudden surge of customers during the inflationary burst earlier this year, many continue to pawn their valuables. Ivan Ho, Singapore Pawnbrokers’ Association, said: "For the past couple of months, we felt that the inflation did create an impact to most of the citizens. But recently, due to the world financial crisis, the impact become more severe. So the pawn brokers are facing a more prosperous period... we have to cope with all the customers who come in for financial assistance." In the face of hard times, consumers are not only tightening their belts, but prefer to have cash in hand. Gold is another sure bet, with prices steadily increasing over the past two years. Pawnbrokers said customers hope to see their gold pieces appreciate in value when they redeem their items at a later time. But with the economic squeeze and rising gold prices, pawnshops are seeing fewer buyers picking up pawned jewellery. Still, they said business continues to be brisk as those in need of small amounts of cash to tide them over resort to pawnshops, now that banks are stricter in approving loans. — CNA/vm

Asia's luxury infatuation under pressure during economic woes AFP - Tuesday, October 14 HONG KONG (AFP) - - The question of whether the Asian market for branded handbags, watches, jewellery and fashion will be snipped or scalped by the likely global economic slowdown is dominating retailers' minds. During a recent trip to her "expensive" Hong Kong hairdresser, luxury brand consultant Radha Chadha asked her stylist if recent turmoil in the world's stock markets had affected business. "I am now offering people shorter haircuts. It's so they will last longer," the stylist told Chadha, author of "The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia's Love Affair with Luxury". Over the past five years, Asia has provided extremely strong profits growth for luxury names such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Rolex, Chadha said. "Asia has been very helpful... in keeping the luxury industry boasting a decent rate of growth," she told AFP. High streets are packed with the heavily designed "brand experience" stores, even in second and third tier Chinese cities, highlighting the crucial role the country plays in the luxury companies' growth strategy. Glossy magazines heave under the weight of high-end adverts, with a recent 808-page edition of Hong Kong-based lifestyle monthly "Prestige" tipping the scales at a handbag strap-ripping three kilograms (6.6 pounds). But there are creeping signs that the region's tumbling stock markets could stifle the previously insatiable appetite for the correct brand name. Japan's retail sector has been in the doldrums for a while. Sales at department stores dropped 3.1 percent in August from the same month a year earlier, the sixth consecutive monthly decline, the Japan Department Stores Association said. Staff at one of Singapore's prime shopping districts said sales of luxury goods had slipped in recent days because of fewer tourists. Customers are buying less and some just browse, they told AFP. The number of visitors to the city state fell 7.7 percent in August compared to a year earlier. "We are located in a tourist area and there are fewer tourists now," said one member of the sales staff in a store selling Prada handbags. A Japanese tourist coming out of a nearby Gucci store said she had planned to spend 3,000 Singapore dollars (2,000 US) during her trip on branded goods, but recent events had cut her budget. "It makes me feel guilty to spend more because of the economic crisis," she said. Chadha, who is based in Hong Kong, said such behaviour is not unusual. "There is a lot of spending which needs that feel-good factor," she said. "When things are going really well, that is when a lot of people go and spend. People are not going to splurge on a bag if they have lost money during the day." Despite the negative signs, some top-end brands believe it is too early to tell if the global slowdown has stopped people buying. "So far there has been no effect in regards to traffic or a decline in sales compared to last year," a spokesman for the jewellery brand Cartier told AFP. "The effects of the economic slowdown on the luxury goods sector in Asia remains to be seen. Christmas will be a better indicator in regards to whether the industry will be affected." Swiss luxury goods giant Richemont recently said the company enjoyed sales growth of 19 percent in the region during the five months to the end of August, although Japan dropped eight percent. And the outlets, many long-planned, keep coming. The Emporio shopping centre in New Delhi was given the go-ahead two years ago and became one of the country's first dedicated luxury malls when it opened recently, Chadha said. "Staff there were very positive," said Chadha, who has visited. Only around half of the plots were filled, Chadha added, although such a situation is not unusual for a new mall. Whether the Emporio is bustling in six months could be a crucial test of whether the region will overcome the gloomy economy to remain a brand-selling powerhouse.

All that money you've lost - where did it go? By ERIC CARVIN, Associated Press Writer AP - Sunday, October 12 NEW YORK - Trillions in stock market value _ gone. Trillions in retirement savings _ gone. A huge chunk of the money you paid for your house, the money you're saving for college, the money your boss needs to make payroll _ gone, gone, gone. Whether you're a stock broker or Joe Six-pack, if you have a 401(k), a mutual fund or a college savings plan, tumbling stock markets and sagging home prices mean you've lost a whole lot of the money that was right there on your account statements just a few months ago. But if you no longer have that money, who does? The fat cats on Wall Street? Some oil baron in Saudi Arabia? The government of China? Or is it just - gone? If you're looking to track down your missing money _ figure out who has it now, maybe ask to have it back _ you might be disappointed to learn that is was never really money in the first place. Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale, puts it bluntly: The notion that you lose a pile of money whenever the stock market tanks is a "fallacy." He says the price of a stock has never been the same thing as money _ it's simply the "best guess" of what the stock is worth. "It's in people's minds," Shiller explains. "We're just recording a measure of what people think the stock market is worth. What the people who are willing to trade today _ who are very, very few people _ are actually trading at. So we're just extrapolating that and thinking, well, maybe that's what everyone thinks it's worth." Shiller uses the example of an appraiser who values a house at $350,000, a week after saying it was worth $400,000. "In a sense, $50,000 just disappeared when he said that," he said. "But it's all in the mind." Though something, of course, is disappearing as markets and real estate values tumble. Even if a share of stock you own isn't a wad of bills in your wallet, even if the value of your home isn't something you can redeem at will, surely you can lose potential money _ that is, the money that would be yours to spend if you sold your house or emptied out your mutual funds right now. And if you're a few months away from retirement, or hoping to sell your house and buy a smaller one to help pay for your kid's college tuition, this "potential money" is something you're counting on to get by. For people who need cash and need it now, this is as real as money gets, whether or not it meets the technical definition of the word. Still, you run into trouble when you think of that potential money as being the same thing as the cash in your purse or your checking account. "That's a big mistake," says Dale Jorgenson, an economics professor at Harvard. There's a key distinction here: While the money in your pocket is unlikely to just vanish into thin air, the money you could have had, if only you'd sold your house or drained your stock-heavy mutual funds a year ago, most certainly can. "You can't enjoy the benefits of your 401(k) if it's disappeared," Jorgenson explains. "If you had it all in financial stocks and they've all gone down by 80 percent _ sorry! That is a permanent loss because those folks aren't coming back. We're gonna have a huge shrinkage in the financial sector." There was a time when nobody had to wonder what happened to the money they used to have. Until paper money was developed in China around the ninth century, money was something solid that had actual value _ like a gold coin that was worth whatever that amount of gold was worth, according to Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic Association's Money Museum in Denver. Back then, if the money you once had was suddenly gone, there was a simple reason _ you spent it, someone stole it, you dropped it in a field somewhere, or maybe a tornado or some other disaster struck wherever you last put it down. But these days, a lot of things that have monetary value can't be held in your hand. If you choose, you can pour most of your money into stocks and track their value in real time on a computer screen, confident that you'll get good money for them when you decide to sell. And you won't be alone _ staring at millions of computer screens are other investors who share your confidence that the value of their portfolios will hold up. But that collective confidence, Jorgenson says, is gone. And when confidence is drained out of a financial system, a lot of investors will decide to sell at any price, and a big chunk of that money you thought your investments were worth simply goes away. If you once thought your investment portfolio was as good as a suitcase full of twenties, you might suddenly suspect that it's not. In the process, of course, you're losing wealth. But does that mean someone else must be gaining it? Does the world have some fixed amount of wealth that shifts between people, nations and institutions with the ebb and flow of the economy? Jorgenson says no _ the amount of wealth in the world "simply decreases in a situation like this." And he cautions against assuming that your investment losses mean a gain for someone else _ like wealthy stock speculators who try to make money by betting that the market will drop. "Those folks in general have been losing their shirts at a prodigious rate," he said. "They took a big risk and now they're suffering from the consequences." "Of course, they had a great life, as long as it lasted."

Asia's migrant workers fear losing jobs in global crisis AFP - Sunday, October 12 SINGAPORE, Oct 12, 2008 (AFP) - As the global financial storm blows fear through Asia's stock markets, Filipino maid Christy Arciaga is jittery -- even though she does not own any shares. Her businessman employer has lately become more irritable as he has watched his investments being swallowed in a sea of red ink, and the 46-year-old domestic helper is often on the receiving end of his bad moods. "My employer would turn on the television every morning to check the latest stock market report even before breakfast. He is often angry and tells me he might send me home even before my contract ends," Arciaga said. "The thought of going back has caused me sleepless nights. What about my family? Two of my children are still in college." Thousands of migrant workers, among them maids, restaurant staff and labourers working in wealthy Asian cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong, are worried that an economic slowdown and retrenchments resulting from the crisis could hit their employers' pockets, and leave them without jobs. This would mean that the flow of remittances they send home to their poor families will dry up -- and with it money for food, clothing and school fees. Another maid, Myra Catacutan, 34, said she recently heard her employer angrily talking on the phone with someone, presumably a financial adviser, demanding her money back. "My employer was shouting to the one on the other line: 'Give me back my money'. When she turned to me, she was teary-eyed and told me she could lose a big amount," she said. "I am worried she might let me go." William Gois, regional coordinator of the non-government group Migrant Forum in Asia, said that any massive retrenchment would worsen poverty in the migrants' home countries. "Families dependent on (overseas) remittances will find now that nothing is coming in and it might further aggravate the poverty situation," Gois said by telephone from Manila. The Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which are key exporters of human labour, would be most affected, he said. The Philippine central bank has said money sent home by Filipinos working abroad totalled 9.6 billion US dollars for the first seven months of the year and is expected to hit a record 15.9 billion for the whole of 2008. -- Slowdown could see millions sent home Another problem is the large numbers of migrant workers without proper documents in Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea, Gois said. "In times of an economic slump, the first thing that governments do is crack down on undocumented workers because they are seen as a burden to the economy and a problem to society," he said. Gois said there are more than 53 million migrant workers from Asia employed worldwide, mostly in the Gulf countries and the Middle East. A high percentage are low and middle skilled labourers. While there have been no reports so far of large layoffs, workers interviewed by AFP said they are worried. "Of course I am afraid," a Bangladeshi worker said in between drilling with a jackhammer near a suburban housing complex. "I don't understand much about the reason for the crisis but I'm just concerned my company will be affected." In Singapore, sending home a maid could save a household at least 600 Singapore dollars (407 US) a month. Many of those who employ maids also dabble in stocks and other financial products whose value has been eroded because of the turmoil. With foreign visitor arrivals in Singapore falling for the third straight month in August, there could be retrenchments in restaurants and shops, which employ many Filipinos and mainland Chinese. Any slowdown in the construction sector would affect thousands of migrant labourers from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Thailand and China. In Hong Kong, which is home to 150,000 Filipinos mostly employed as maids and in bars and restaurants, worries about fallout from the crisis have already begun to resonate through the tight-knit community. "Migrant workers are very worried," said Eman Villanueva, secretary general of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, a migrant rights group. "They are first of all concerned about their jobs. Most of the people in Hong Kong who employ domestic workers will have investments or are facing potential job losses because of the financial crisis." Villanueva said that many migrants were also concerned about the safety of their own investments. "Many have paid for education insurance to make sure their children are able to go to university, or into a pension. They are worried about what will happen to their money," he said.

Singapore investors decry losses from Lehman bonds By ALEX KENNEDY,Associated Press Writer AP - Sunday, October 12 SINGAPORE - Hundreds of distraught Singaporean investors flooded a park Saturday to express their anguish at losses from structured notes issued by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. that they say were sold to them by banks as safe investments. Among the crowd that gathered were retired, middle class and working class investors who told a similar story. During the past few years as their other fixed-income instruments matured local bank officials pushed a 5 to 7-year bond that would yield about 5 percent, higher than the 0.5 percent interest rate banks pay on checking or savings account deposits. "This wasn't some pyramid scheme, or so we were led to believe," said Lawrence Chin, a 62-year-old retired salesman who invested 50,000 Singapore dollars (US$33,760) in the bonds in 2006. "Now they say they're toxic. I never knew a bond could be toxic," said Chin. Small investors such as Chin are bearing part of the destruction wrought by a credit crisis that began last year with U.S. sub-prime mortgages and has since engulfed markets around the world. Investment bank giant Lehman declared bankruptcy last month. The central bank, known as the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said about 8,000 people bought S$508 million (US$343 million) of Lehman-linked structured notes from nine banks and brokerages. The bank said Friday that the bonds' trustee, HSBC, "has not received firm proposals from potential new swap counterparties" and the notes' underlying securities would not be sold for at least two weeks. "I'm afraid I could lose all my money," said taxi driver Tan Weng Yeow, 60. "I invested S$10,000 (US$6,752), which is a lot for someone like me. I'm really upset. I want the government or the bank to give me back some of my money." On Wednesday, hundreds of angry investors protested in Hong Kong to demand a full refund of their investment in Lehman-backed bonds. The Hong Kong government proposed Monday a plan under which local banks and distributors of the bonds would buy back the products at a value to be decided on later. However, most investors rejected the plan which they said would only help recover a small part of their investments and said banks failed to explain to them the products were linked to the U.S. company. Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission estimated investors owned about US$2 billion of outstanding Lehman-related investment products in the city. Singaporean investors met in a park known as Speakers' Corner, the only outdoor space where the government allows limited protests and public gatherings. Protests are very rare in Singapore, as the government enforces strict rules against public assembly and criticism. "I came down here because I really don't know what to do and I wanted to talk to other people in my same situation," said a 45-year-old engineer who would only gave her surname of Lim. "I invested S$70,000 (US$47,265) and now my daughter is asking me if she can still go to university. It's terrible."

Analysts say retrenchments expected as early as December Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, October 11 SINGAPORE : Singapore’s economy is expected to grow by only 3 per cent this year. This falls short of the earlier gross domestic product forecast range of between 4 and 5 per cent. Given the bleak short—term outlook ahead, Christmas is unlikely to be very merry in Singapore. Some analysts said retrenchments could hit home as early as December, while others predict the full impact will be felt in the second and third quarter of next year. 42—year—old Ahmad Adnan Dormat hopes to survive the hard months ahead. He starts a new job as a pool cleaner on Monday, earning about S$1,450 a month before contributing to the Central Provident Fund. Ahmad’s wife is a homemaker. The family spends about S$300 every month for household needs. When Ahmad was unemployed for two months, he applied to six companies for a job. But he only received one call back. Since then, he has been tapping on what little savings he has to support his family of four. But the fear of losing his job lingers with the poorer economy today. And while the good news is that Asia is not at the epicentre of this current crisis, it is little comfort to the average worker. Irvin Seah, economist, DBS Bank, said: "At least for the next four quarters or so, we should prepare ourselves mentally for a slower growth and a softer labour market. "You would probably see your bonuses not coming in, fresh graduates will probably have difficulties finding good—paying jobs and those who would like to seek for better opportunities will find it extremely difficult. So to put it (simply), we are in for a rough ride ahead." Mr Seah added: "We have been through some difficult times during the Asian Financial Crisis. And if you compare to those days, the banking sector, the structure of the banking sectors in Asia has certainly become a lot stronger. Banks are much more robust and better capitalised nowadays — I am referring to the Asian banks. "So we are definitely in a much better position, and I believe that as long as for the US and the Eurozone, (if) they are able to find solutions to the problems, then I guess Asia should be able to ride off this difficult times and emerge even stronger." Community organisations are bracing to help needy residents. North West Community Development Council is starting a kitchen cooperative, which will be operational by the end of the year. Teo Ho Pin, Mayor, North West District, said: "This kitchen is basically to provide jobs to our residents. At the same time, it is also a business, where we bake Malay kuehs, pastries to sell and to cater to various functions. "It will also provide hot meals for needy residents. And one of the kitchens will be located at Bukit Panjang CC, and that will cater to about maybe 100 residents in Bukit Panjang town." Dr Teo added: "We are expecting more residents to come forward to the CDC for assistance. So what we have done at Northwest CDC is that we have geared up in our various assistance schemes. So in terms of our job assistance schemes now, we are focusing on helping our residents to switch careers or move into (a) new industry, especially the service industry. "So we have worked out various schemes... recently we had a career exploration scheme, where we actually provide opportunities — working with employers — to give our job seekers opportunities to have a work trial. "That means going to the company to work for a couple of days, then if the employers and job seekers... find that they can match, then we will support in terms of providing training, subsidies, and they will undergo a proper training course to upgrade their skills, and we will also help them transit into their new work environment." The CDC also plans to offer hot meals to needy residents. With the downturn, it is expecting the number of applications for social assistance to go up from 600 to 800 a month. — CNA/ms

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Singapore's economy shrinks in Q2, exports seen down Reuters - Monday, August 11 By Jan Dahinten and Kevin Lim SINGAPORE, Aug 11 - Singapore's economy contracted in the second quarter and the government forecasts exports to fall this year for the first time since 2001, a sign that sagging growth is becoming a bigger worry for Asia than inflation. The government on Monday forecast non-oil domestic exports would fall 2-4 percent in 2008, against an earlier estimate of 2-4 percent growth, and predicted the economy would grow at a lower end of a weaker 4-5 percent forecast. In the second quarter, the economy contracted at a annualised rate of 6 percent after seasonal adjustments, its worst performance in five years and in line with market expectations. Year-on-year the economy grew 2.1 percent. (For a graphic of GDP data, click on: https://customers.reuters.com/d/graphics/SG_GDPQ0808.gif) Singapore's heavy dependence on trade makes the $160 billion economy a good gauge of how the global slowdown is affecting Asia. Non-oil domestic exports to the United States fell 21 percent in the second quarter, while shipments to European Union dropped by 12 percent. The Singapore dollar, the central bank's main policy tool, slumped to a near six-month low around S$1.41 to the U.S. dollar. "The balance of risk is shifting away from inflation toward growth as seen from the correction of the Singapore dollar last week," said Kit Wei Zheng, an economist at Citigroup. NO RECESSION Like many Asian countries, Singapore has been grappling with inflation even as economic growth slows. But officials suggested on Monday that inflation may have peaked and said -- while not expecting at technical recession -- that there will be no quick turnaround in global growth. "The macroeconomic dynamics will remain fluid over the next 12 to 18 months. It is too early to tell what 2009 will bring," Ravi Menon, a permanent secretary at the trade ministry, told reporters. "Current indications are that global economic growth will not see a quick turnaround." Construction grew 17.4 percent year-on-year and the financial sector grew 10.2 percent in the second quarter, but manufacturing shrank 5.2 percent. Manufacturing, which accounts for about a quarter of economic activity, is expected to slow, reflecting weak U.S. and European demand. Given that, economists said it was unlikely that the central bank will further tighten monetary policy at its next meeting in October, barring a spike in oil prices. "We believe our policy remains appropriate," said Ong Chong Tee, managing director of central bank the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The central bank steers monetary policy by managing the Singapore dollar's <SGD=> nominal effective exchange rate -- its relative value compared with a basket of currencies of trading partners -- rather than by adjusting interest rates. The trading band and the currencies in the basket are kept secret. The bank moved the centre of the band up in April, its most aggressive policy change since the 2003 SARS epidemic, to tame inflation that reached a 26-year high in June. (Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar and Charmian Kok, editing by Neil Chatterjee and Tomasz Janowski) Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.

Singapore cuts 2008 GDP growth forecast to 4%—5% Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, August 9 SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his National Day message, has cut the 2008 GDP growth forecast to between 4 per cent and 5 per cent from an earlier estimate of between 4 per cent and 6 per cent. He also said the country faces a tough year ahead as it is beginning to feel the impact of a US slowdown. "For the whole year, we expect growth to be between 4 and 5 per cent," Mr Lee said in his annual message, which was televised on the eve of Singapore’s 43rd birthday. Mr Lee said the Singapore economy had expanded by 4.5 per cent in the first six months of 2008. "Singapore’s economy has so far been partly buffered, because we’ve been carried along by the vibrancy of the Asian region. But Asian economies are starting to feel the impact of America’s problems, and so are we. We must therefore prepare ourselves for a bumpy year ahead," he said. Mr Lee acknowledged the problems Singaporeans are facing are due to global inflation. And while the government cannot prevent prices from going up as they are worldwide, it is trying to lighten the burden on Singaporeans through schemes like Workfare and ComCare. "We are doing the next best thing: to put in place effective relief measures, and provide the poor and the needy with the help they need. We must look beyond immediate problems like the cost of living, to understand what is happening in the world around us, discover new opportunities and tackle our longer—term challenges," he said. The annual message is seen as a prelude to the National Day Rally, where the Prime Minister goes into further detail on the long—term challenges facing the country. In the televised message on Friday, Mr Lee highlighted three other points. First, the upgrading of Singapore’s economy: to do so, there must be investment in its people. One way is through education. To that end, Singapore is building a fourth university which will take its first batch of students in 2011, well ahead of the original target of 2015. The publicly—funded university will have its campus in Changi. The second point Mr Lee highlighted was how to encourage Singaporeans to have more children to boost the country’s total fertility rate, which currently stands at only 1.29 PM Lee said: "We can create an environment where Singaporeans see them (children) as a natural and important part of life, and where young couples get support in starting families. We have looked at this comprehensively and will take further steps to address the practical problems which couples face." Mr Lee also spoke of adapting Singapore to be able to educate and engage what he called "cyber—citizens". He said: "We must adapt ourselves to it, and use it to educate and engage our cyber—citizens. We will evolve our policies and rules, our economy and society, to take full advantage. We will continue to open up our system progressively." Mr Lee hinted that the country will continue to open up space for political and societal debate, saying it is the "right way to go". But he also said that as the country continues to open up, its new generation of citizens need to understand that all freedoms come with responsibilities. For the first time, this year’s National Day Message was shot on high—definition video. Another first — it was filmed at Sri Temasek, located within the Istana grounds in Singapore. The building is the Prime Minister’s official residence, though none of Singapore’s prime ministers has ever lived there. Viewers of MediaCorp’s HD5 — Singapore’s free—to—air high—definition channel — were able to catch the National Day Message broadcast in true high—definition. Standard definition TV viewers also enjoyed sharper image quality than previously. There will be a repeat broadcast of the PM’s message on August 9. Details of the broadcast schedule are available here. The video and the text of the message are available online at channelnewsasia.com — CNA/ir Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.

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Folks, watch out for another 'Financial Crisis' soon. NTUC chief concerned global economy heading towards stagflation Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, August 2 SINGAPORE: Labour chief Lim Swee Say has urged workers to work together to cope with a global economy which may be heading towards a state of stagflation — one sparked off by low growth and high inflation. The NTUC secretary general made the call in his National Day message. Singapore’s National Day is being celebrated amidst concerns about the slowing global economy and rising inflation, said Mr Lim. And to tackle these concerns, the labour movement, the employers and the government are addressing two core priorities. First, coping with the impact of inflation without being caught in a price—wage spiral. "The worse thing that any country does at a time of high inflation would be for the unions and workers to push for wage inflation. Wage inflation is different from wage increment. Wage inflation means you are pushing up wages to fully offset the inflation," said the labour chief. He added that companies in the unionised sector are currently in talks on their annual increment. One key consideration that is being taken into account in these negotiations is the current state of inflation. The labour movement noted that private sector companies in the unionised sector have been giving a higher percentage of built—in wage increases in the first half of this year compared to last year, with the figure in the range of 4.4 per cent against 3.8 percent in 2007. — CNA/ir Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.

SIGH.... Reuters - Thursday, July 31 SINGAPORE, July 31 - Singapore's jobless rate rose to a one-year high as firms slowed hiring amid choppy financial markets and a weakening global economy, and analysts warned that unemployment may climb in coming months. The jobless rate rose to 2.3 percent in the April-June period after seasonal adjustments, compared to 2 percent in the previous quarter, the Ministry of Manpower said in preliminary data on Thursday. Employment rose by 70,600 in the second quarter, slowing from a rise of 73,200 in the January-March period. Economists said the rising jobless rate was evidence that the economic slowdown had extended beyond economic data and was spreading into the real economy, although Singapore's labour market is still expected to remain tight this year. "The labour market is going to soften as growth...slows," said Irvin Seah, an economist at DBS. "We don't expect a sharp rise in retrenchments but things are going to move along at a slower pace." Economists said the tight labour market -- the unemployment rate was at a 10-year low in the fourth quarter -- may fuel price pressures in Singapore where inflation is at a 26-year high. "The labour market is still tight but it is moving towards a more sustainable pace that will soften the margin squeeze on companies," Seah said. The booming construction industry created a record 22,100 jobs in the second quarter, compared to 14,500 in the first three months of the year, as building deals carried over from last year's red-hot property market -- which has since cooled -- continued to fuel activity. Services, which includes the key financial sector, added 37,600 jobs in the April-June period, slowing from the first quarter when 46,500 jobs were created. Employment in manufacturing rose by 10,200, down from an increase of 11,800 in the first quarter. Retrenchments in Singapore fell to 1,900 in the second quarter from 2,274 in the previous quarter. Heng Swee Keat, Singapore's central bank chief, said this month unemployment rate is seen at 2 percent for 2008. Economies across Asia are expected to slow this year as growth in the key U.S. and Europe export markets weaken, while demand in emerging markets are not as strong as hoped. Singapore's trade-driven economy, a barometer for global demand for Asian exports, shrank an annualised and seasonally adjusted 6.6 percent in the second quarter, its biggest contraction in five years. Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.

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