SINGAPORE: Singapore's near-record unemployment rate will climb above its 18-year high of 5.9 percent this year unless at least 103,000 jobs are created, an economic researcher said in a local newspaper.

Hui Weng Tat, a National University of Singapore associate professor, told an economic forum Tuesday another 30,000 jobs would need to be created on top of the 103,000 to bring the unemployment rate down to four percent.

Hui, from the university's economics department, based his estimates on the pool of school leavers joining the workforce this year and a portion of the resident population planning to look for jobs as the economy improves.

"Assuming that only half of those outside the labour force could rejoin in a year, and with another 45,000 school leavers and graduates entering the resident labour force, it would require about 103,000 new jobs within the year to keep the unemployed pool from rising further," Hui said.

Singapore's unemployment rate surged to an 18-year high of 5.9 percent at the end of the third quarter last year, according to the latest available data from the Manpower Ministry.

A slowdown caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak last year and the continued migration of low-end manufacturing jobs to cheaper locations, especially to China, contributed to the city-state's unemployment woes.

Singapore's record high unemployment rate of six percent was reached in 1986.

While its economy grew only 0.8 percent in 2003, the government expects it to improve to 3.0-5.0 percent for this year.

National Trades Union Congress secretary general Lim Boon Heng said last month he expected the unemployment rate would drop to 4.0 percent this year on the back of the improved economic growth.

- AFP