Employment Situation, Third Quarter 2013

Job Market Stayed Tight Amid Lower Unemployment and Fewer Layoffs

1. The job market stayed tight, as unemployment declined amid fewer layoffs. Employment creation remained high, though it moderated from previous quarter. These are the key preliminary findings from the “Employment Situation, Third Quarter 2013” report released by the Ministry of Manpower’s Research and Statistics Department.
   
   Main Findings
2. Unemployment remained low, reflecting strong manpower demand. Preliminary estimates showed that the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate was 1.8% in September 2013, down from 2.1% in June 2013. Similarly, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased over the quarter from 2.9% to 2.6% for residents and 3.1% to 2.8% for Singapore citizens.
3. Employment growth was driven mainly by services and construction, which added more workers than in the same period last year. Total employment rose by 28,100 in the third quarter of 2013, lower than the gains of 33,700 in the previous quarter, but higher than 26,200 in the third quarter last year. This brought total employment to 3,448,300 in September 2013, which was 4.1% higher than a year ago.
4. Redundancy declined, after increasing in the previous quarter. Some 2,600¹ workers were laid off in the third quarter of 2013, down from 3,080 in the preceding quarter and 2,850 in the third quarter of 2012.
   
   For More Information
5. The “Employment Situation, Third Quarter 2013” report is available online on the MOM's Labour Market Statistical Information webpage. More comprehensive labour market data will be released in the “Labour Market Report, Third Quarter 2013” on 13 December 2013.