REAL STARTING SALARIES FOR UNI GRADS DROPS 5% IN LAST 8 YEARS?

I refer to the article “Higher starting salaries for local fresh graduates in 2015: Survey” (Channel News Asia, Mar 2).

It states that “The mean gross monthly salary among fresh graduates employed in full-time positions increased S$135 from 2014, according to results from the latest Joint Graduate Employment Survey released on Wednesday (Mar 2).

Individuals who graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU) in 2015 had a gross monthly pay of S$3,468, compared to S$3,333 in 2014.

Meanwhile, the median gross monthly salary among fresh graduates employed in full-time permanent employment was S$3,300 in 2015, compared to S$3,200 from two years ago, the survey showed.”

According to the Singapore Yearbook of Manpower Statistics 2014 (page H30) – the median gross monthly starting salary of university graduates in full-time permanent employment was $2,750 in 2007.

Graduates’ real starting pay declined 5% last 8 years?

Does this mean that their starting salaries increased by about 20 per cent ($3,300 divided by $2,750) in the last eight years?

Since inflation was about 25 per cent from 2007 (CPI 79.65) to 2015 (CPI 99.5) – does it mean that in real terms – their starting salaries declined by about -5 per cent (25 – 20%) in the last eight years?

LeongSzeHian