Unemployment remains low in Q3

SINGAPORE — Unemployment remained low in the third quarter of the year, holding steady from the preceding quarter, but more people were laid off compared with the previous two quarters, preliminary estimates released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) yesterday showed.

Employment growth — the increase in the number of people in employment — also slowed for the third consecutive quarter.

The overall seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 1.9 per cent in September, a dip from 2 per cent in the second quarter. The unemployment rates for residents and citizens were unchanged at 2.8 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively.

About 52,600 residents, including 46,700 Singapore citizens, were unemployed in September. The seasonally adjusted figures were 62,500 for residents and 55,400 for citizens. About 3,400 workers were laid off, up from 2,410 in the preceding quarter and 2,710 a year ago, reflecting the impact of restructuring, the MOM said.

Most of the lay-offs occurred in the services sector (1,900, or 56 per cent), followed by manufacturing (1,300, or 38 per cent) and construction (200, or 5.9 per cent). The majority (3,000) of these workers were retrenched, while the remaining (400) were contract workers who were released early.

Around 27,100 people found jobs between July and September, fewer than the 28,300 and 27,700 in the first two quarters, respectively. The figure for the third quarter was also lower than the 33,100 in the same period last year.

The services sector continued to generate the majority of employment gains at 23,500, higher than in the third quarter of last year (18,500). Meanwhile, employment gains in the construction (3,400) and manufacturing (300) sectors grew more slowly than a year ago — 10,700 and 3,300, respectively.

There were 3,577,000 people in employment in September, 3.6 per cent higher than a year ago. However, this on-year increase was lower than the 3.8 per cent seen in June.