Poly, not uni, grads least likely to be jobless

I just read a Straits Times report on the Transitioning.org website that said:

Generally, the older and less qualified you are, the more likely you are to be unemployed for any length of time.
Labour statistics highlight the fact that unemployed Singaporeans tend to be older workers – aged 40 and above – who do not have degrees or polytechnic diplomas.

That's a sweeping generalization. There were 19,500 unemployed degree holders last year. That's almost twice as many as in 2007, when there were 10,900 unemployed degree holders – and only about 3,000 less than the number of jobless secondary school certificate holders last year: 22,300. I am quoting from the Singapore Yearbook of Manpower Statistics 2010.

From the statistics available, unemployment is lowest among polytechnic diploma holders.

That's reflected in this table, which shows an increase in the number of unemployed degree holders, both young and old.

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This table is taken from the 2009 labour market report released by the Ministry of Manpower in March. You can download it here.

The report says degree holders made up 25 per cent of the unemployed in December 2009, up from 21 per cent a year ago.

And 47 per cent of the unemployed were aged 40 and over, up from 43 per cent a year ago.

The number of older, unemployed degree holders went up from 3,900, or 5.6 per cent of the workforce, to 4,700, or 7.9 per cent.

True, there were more unemployed older workers without degrees.

But degree holders make up only a minority of the workforce.

The number of unemployed people has been rising over the last two years though unemployment is still a low 2.3 per cent. These figures are from the Singapore Yearbook of Manpower Statistics 2010. You can download it here.

Figures in thousands	2007	2008	2009
Total	56.7	62.9	86.9
Male	30.8	36.2	46.2
Female	25.9	29.7	40.7
Age
15-29	18	21.3	27.5
30-39	12.2	13.2	18.6
40-49	12.7	13.7	19.6
50 and over	13.8	14.6	21.2
Highest qualification
Primary and below	8.5	9.5	12.7
Lower secondary	8.3	9.3	10.9
Secondary	15.8	15.2	22.3
Upper secondary	7.1	9.5	13.4
Polytechnic diploma	6.0	6.2	8.1
Degree	10.9	13.2	19.5