Total employment in Singapore registered its lowest growth since 2009, with the overall employment growing by 16,200 for the first three quarters of 2015, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in its latest report on Tuesday.
In September, the overall unemployment rate remained low at 2.0 percent. Unemployment rose to 3.0 percent for residents and 3.1 percent for citizens amid softer economic conditions, MOM said. Total employment grew by 12,600 in the third quarter of 2015, down from an increase of 33,400 in the third quarter of 2014.
Cumulatively for the first three quarters of this year, total employment grew by 16,200, which is the lowest growth since 2009. A total of 3,460 workers were laid off in the third quarter, which was higher than that in the preceding quarter, but similar to the third quarter of 2014, which saw 3,500 workers laid off.
The rate of re-entry into employment within six months of redundancy remained stable in the third quarter this year. Even though job openings continued to outnumber job seekers, the ratio has moderated.
The seasonally adjusted vacancies declined over the quarter by 11 percent to 55,600 in September, while the seasonally adjusted ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons declined to 116 openings per 100 job seekers in September from 121 in June this year.
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