Slower employment growth in first quarter, slight rise in unemployment

Slower employment growth in first quarter, slight rise in unemployment
PHOTO: Slower employment growth in first quarter, slight rise in unemployment

SINGAPORE - This brought total employment to 3.38 million in March 2013, up 3.8 per cent from a year ago. But employment growth was still lower than 44,000 in the preceding quarter, and was the lowest first-quarter gain since the 2009 recession.


Get the full story from The Straits Times.

Here is the press release from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM):

Unemployment remained low, even as employment creation slowed in the first quarter of 2013. Meanwhile, layoffs declined, after rising in the preceding two quarters. These are the key preliminary findings from the "Employment Situation, First Quarter 2013" report released by the Ministry of Manpower's Research and Statistics Department.

Main Findings

Preliminary estimates showed that the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate edged up to 1.9 per cent in March 2013 from 1.8 per cent in December 2012. Similarly, the unemployment rate for residents rose to 2.9 per cent from 2.7 per cent, while the citizen unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.9 per cent. Even with the increase, the rates remain low.

Amid continued weakness in the economy and the foreign worker tightening measures, employment creation has slowed. Total employment growth moderated to 20,800 in the first quarter of 2013, with total employment in March 2013 growing by 3.8 per cent from a year ago. The growth in the first quarter this year was below the seasonally high gain of 44,000 in the last quarter of 2012, and is the lowest first quarter gain post-2009 (2010: 36,500; 2011: 28,300; 2012: 27,200).

Layoffs have declined, after rising in the previous two quarters. An estimated 2,000 workers were made redundant in the first quarter of 2013. This was lower than the 3,350 workers affected in the preceding quarter and 2,600 in the first quarter of 2012.

For More Information

The "Employment Situation, First Quarter 2013" report is available online on the Ministry of Manpower's website at https://www.mom.gov.sg/mrsd/publication. The updated labour market data for Q1, 2013 will be released in the "Labour Market Report, First Quarter 2013" on 15 June 2013.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.