Dubai's population rose 1.9 per cent in the second quarter to 1.7 million when compared to the previous three months, government figures showed, indicating that employment in the Gulf emirate was picking up.

Dubai, the regional trade and tourism hub was one of the worst affected in the top oil-exporting region by the global financial downturn that brought its real estate boom to a grinding halt late in 2008.

Most of the work force in Dubai is foreign, which means population changes serve as an indication of employment levels. Many firms announced job cuts after the crisis forcing developers to cancel and suspend projects worth billions of dollars.

The emirate's population rose to 1.7 million compared the first quarter according to numbers published by the Dubai Statistics Centre on Sunday.

The figures contrast some analysts reports which have pointed to an expected decline in population due to job cuts as a result of the global economic crisis.

UBS said earlier this year that Dubai's population was likely to fall 10 per cent in the coming two years as a result of job cuts.

"Our view still stands. Our view is that the net population outflows will take place in the second half of the year or exiting the year. We are emphasising net population flows," Saud Masud, the bank's head of research and senior real estate analyst, Middle East and north Africa, in Dubai, told Reuters on Sunday.

Dubai ruling council member and chairman of Emaar Properties, Mohamed Alabbar, said in a speech on Friday that Dubai had seen some 400,000 people move to the Gulf Arab region's economic and tourist hub over the past 12 months.

The number of completed buildings in Dubai rose to 639 in the second quarter from 636 in the first quarter, the government figures showed.

Completed commercial buildings fell to 76 from 92 in the respective periods while residential buildings rose to 505 from 423. Recreational, services and industrial buildings declined to 58 from 121, the report said.

Dubai's once-booming property sector has been severely dented as a result of the economic downturn with house prices off around 50 percent from their peaks last year.

In a report last week, UBS said prices could drop a further 20 to 30 per cent and continued population outflows from the region and new units still coming on stream could leave the residential property market with more than 25 percent oversupply by the end of 2010.-Reuters