Layoffs, unemployment on the rise in Singapore Q2 2016

Singapore's Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) report on the second quarter (Q2) 2016 shows a rise in unemployment for residents and citizens, after declining in the previous quarter; in addition to a rise in layoffs compared with the first quarter of 2016 and a year ago.

The seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate rose from 1.9% in March 2016 to 2.1% in June 2016. Over the same period, unemployment rate increased among residents (2.7% to 3.0%) and citizens (2.6% to 3.1%), after declining over the previous quarter.

Total employment grew by 5,500 in the second quarter of 2016, a slower pace of growth than both the first quarter of 2016 (13,000) and the same period last year (9,700).

This slow growth was driven primarily by services (8,600), countered by declining employment in the manufacturing sector (-3,400). Employment in construction remained relatively unchanged (400).

In June 2016, total employment in Singapore reached 3,674,700, 1.3% higher than a year ago. This was similar to the 1.4% growth in March 2016, but slower than the average growth of about 2% in 2015.

Accordingly, 5,500 workers were laid off in the second quarter of 2016 (5,500), up from the previous quarter (4,710) and a year ago (3,250). Redundancies fell over the quarter in manufacturing, while increasing in services and staying relatively unchanged for construction.

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