The JobStreet ECI for Malaysia may have recovered in August after a knee-jerk drop in July but apparently it seems to have lost some steam again in September as the index settled back by half-a-point to 49.6 points. There is still a lot of concern on the ground on how the country will be affected by economic problems on a global scale.

There is also concern about the economy and job seeker confidence in Singapore as the JobStreet ECI there also settled by half-a-point to 51.4 points. We have been seeing a slow but steady decline since May when the index stood at 54.1 points.

In India, the JobStreet ECI went down by 0.4 points to 66.3 points. Comparatively, the confidence level is still the highest about the four countries where we run our monthly JobStreet ECI poll but we see job seekers there now expressing less confidence than before. Obviously, when the September poll was carried out, the possible repercussions from the folding of Lehman Brothers offices in India may not have hit home yet.

Meanwhile, we take much encouragement from the Philippines where the JobStreet ECI there continues to improve. It rose to 59.2 points in September, breezing past the last peak of 58.4 points registered in January and March this year.

The JobStreet.com Employment Confident Index is a measurement of job seeker confidence in finding a job in the countries where we hold our monthly polls.