News Highlights

More workers in Singapore laid off last year as businesses restructure

SINGAPORE (Jan 30): More workers in Singapore were laid off last year than in 2013 as companies restructured.
Some 12,800 workers were made redundant, compared with 11,560 the previous year, according to preliminary estimates from the Ministry of Manpower released today.
There were 3,800 redundancies in the fourth quarter, more than the 3,660 in the same period a year earlier and 3,500 in 3Q2014.
Overall, Singapore's unemployment rate last year inched up to 2% from 1.9% in 2013.

Catalysts for SMRT nowhere within sight despite earnings improvement

SINGAPORE (Jan 30): The big improvement in SMRT Corp's December-quarter earnings is no doubt commendable. And with fares going up from April and energy costs coming down, the public transport operator should continue doing well for some time, even amid rising demands from commuters and the government for it to beef up capacity, service standards and reliability.