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While employment growth was maintained throughout 2023, it slowed progressively with each successive quarter.
Singapore's Ministry for Manpower (MOM) released its Labour Market Report for Q4 2023 on 14 March 2024.
Mainly it found that labour demand cooled over the course of 2023. While employment growth was maintained throughout 2023, it slowed progressively with each successive quarter.
The report highlights progress on several metrics in the labour market, namely employment, unemployment and retrenchments.
Read more details of each category below:
Employment
Total employment grew by 88,400 in 2023, driven by non-residents (83,500), especially in the construction & manufacturing sector.
Resident employment growth (4,900) was in higher-paying sectors like financial services and professional services.
In Q4 2023, total employment expanded for the ninth consecutive quarter, increasing by 7,500. However, this increase has moderated significantly in Q4 2023 for both residents (400) and non-residents (7,000) compared to Q3 2023 (resident: 2,800; non-resident: 20,800)
Unemployment
Unemployment rates remained low and stable in Dec 2023 (overall: 2.0%; resident: 2.8%; citizen: 2.9%) and January 2024 (overall: 2.0%; resident: 2.8%; citizen: 3.0%).
Across the age groups, the resident employment rates in Dec 2023 were at or below September 2023 levels.
For seniors aged 50 and over,
50-59: 2.9% in Sept 2023 to 2.6% in Dec 2023
60 and over: from 2.3% in Sept 2023 to 2.2% in Dec 2023
For younger residents aged 30 and under, their unemployment rate remained at 5.6 in Dec 2023.
For reference, the unemployment rate for younger residents is usually higher than other age groups as the data includes fresh graduates who are searching for work and exploring career options as well as students who move between temporary or part-time jobs.
Retrenchments
The total number of retrenchments in 2023 (14,590) was more than double the record low in comparison to the year before (6,440). This number was similar to that of pre-pandemic levels (averaging between 2015 to 2019: 14,180).
The number of retrenchments declined in Q4 2023 (3,460) in comparison to that of Q3 2023 (4,110). The decrease, driven by a fall in retrenchments in the wholesale trade industry, saw a surge in Q3 2023.
According to the statistics, the biggest reason for retrenchments were due to business reorganisation/restructuring in 2023.
Infographics / MOM
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