Singapore employment fell by record 25,600 in Q1

Singapore employment fell by record 25,600 in Q1

Seafarers who have spent the past months working onboard vessels arrive at the Changi Airport to board their flight back home to India during a crew change amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Singapore June 12, 2020. (Reuters file photo)
Seafarers who have spent the past months working onboard vessels arrive at the Changi Airport to board their flight back home to India during a crew change amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Singapore June 12, 2020. (Reuters file photo)

Total employment in Singapore, excluding foreign domestic workers, fell by a record 25,600 in the first quarter, according to revised data published by the Ministry of Manpower.

The decline was mainly due to a “significant fall in foreign employment,” the ministry said in a statement Monday. Previously published preliminary data showed a 19,900 drop in the first quarter.

The number of retrenchments in the first quarter was revised higher to 3,220 from 3,000. The unemployment rate was left unchanged at 2.4%.

“Labour market conditions are likely to worsen in the upcoming quarter, given the sharp fall in hiring demand globally as well as in Singapore due to circuit breaker measures,” the ministry said. “This is reflected in the decline in the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons.”


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