SINGAPORE: Singapore showed signs of cooling labour demand in the latest market data released yesterdayon Thursday, and economists say the job market is likely to toughen further given economic uncertainty and global headwinds.

Total employment expanded at a slower pace, retrenchments rose and job vacancies, while still high, dropped for a fourth straight quarter in the Manpower Ministry’s (MOM) labour market report for the first quarter of 2023.

Retrenchments rose for the third consecutive quarter to 3,820, from 2,990 in the fourth quarter of 2022.

But testifying to the still tight labour market, 71.7% of retrenched Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) were able to find a job within six months. Unemployment rates also remained low.

Responding to the latest data in a Facebook post yesterday, Labour MP Patrick Tay said: “Although improving, we will need to pay closer attention to the rate of re-entry into employment of those who are unemployed or retrenched.

“Structural challenges such as skills and jobs mismatches continue to be one of the main causes of unemployment in Singapore in the near and medium term.

“As such, we need to double down on our efforts, and build on our momentum to promote and encourage skills upgrading and acquisition to stay ready, relevant and resilient.”

The increase in layoffs came mainly from the outward-oriented sectors of electronics manufacturing (670 to 1,190), information and communications (370 to 560) and financial services (260 to 540).

The total number of employed persons in Singapore grew by 33,000 in the January-to-March period, marking six consecutive quarters of growth. The employment data excludes migrant domestic workers.

The number of employed Singapore citizens and PRs rose by 2,800, driven by gains in the sectors of financial services, professional services, and health and social services.The remaining increase of 30,200 came from non-resident workers, largely in the construction and manufacturing industries. This also marks the first time that non-resident employment has exceeded its pre-pandemic levels.

Despite total employment in Singapore surpassing pre-pandemic levels by 3.8%, growth has moderated compared with the previous quarter’s increase of 43,500.

There were other signs of cooling labour demand. Job vacancies declined for the fourth consecutive quarter to 99,600 in March.

However, the number of vacancies remained high, in part because non-resident employment has not fully recovered to its pre-pandemic level in sectors like retail trade and food and beverage services.The ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons stayed high at 2.28 (228 jobs to 100 persons), but also declined from 2.33 in December 2022.

Still, the overall unemployment rate (1.8%) and resident long-term unemployment rate (0.6%) remained low in March 2023.

In Singapore, long-term unemployment is defined as persons aged fifteen years and over who have been unemployed for 25 weeks – approximately six months – or more. Education is recognised as a form of employment. — The Straits Times/ANN