Singapore's overall unemployment rate dipped slightly from 2.0 percent in September 2015 to 1.9 percent in December, with the annual average unemployment rate in 2015 broadly unchanged since 2011 at 1.9 percent, showed the preliminary findings from the "Labour Market Advance Release 2015" report released by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Thursday.
Total employment growth was higher in the fourth quarter of 2015 than in the previous quarter, but lower than in the fourth quarter of 2014. For the whole of 2015, total employment is estimated to have increased by 31,800 or 0.9 percent, which would be the lowest year-on-year growth since 2003, MOM said.
The moderation in total employment growth took place amidst sluggish global economic conditions and slower growth of the Singapore economy, and tightened supply of foreign manpower, the ministry explained. Foreign employment continued to grow at a moderate pace of 2 percent in 2015, slightly lower than 2014, but significantly below the levels in 2011 to 2013 as Singapore continues to tighten the inflow of foreign workers.
The growth in foreign employment was driven by the services sector, at both the Work Permit Holders (WPH) and Employment Pass (EP) level. The Information and Communications sector accounted for the bulk of EP holder growth, while the Construction, Transport and Storage, Food and Beverage Services as well as Administrative and Support Services sectors contributed to the bulk of the growth in Work Permit Holders.
In the meantime, there was a sustained rise in income at the median and 20th percentile over the last five years. The median income of full-time employed citizens rose by 32 percent in nominal terms from 2010 to 2015, or 16 percent after adjusting for inflation.
Amid on-going initiatives to boost income of low-wage workers, income at the 20th percentile of full-time employed citizens rose by 31 percent in nominal terms, or 16 percent in real terms. Redundancy also increased in 2015, which rose to 14,400, going up steadily since 2010.
The increase in layoffs stemmed from manufacturing and services, MOM stated. The moderated employment growth in 2015 reflects the weaker global economic conditions and the continued efforts to restructure towards a more productive and manpower-lean economy, MOM said.
"As we continue our economic transition, MOM will step up our efforts with our tripartite partners to strengthen the Singaporean Core in the workforce while reducing over-reliance on and raising the quality of foreign manpower," the ministry said in its press release.
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