Unemployment rates in Singapore decline for fourth straight month in February

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN) -- Unemployment rates here continued to drop for the fourth consecutive month in February as the economy recovers.
The unemployment rate peaked in September last year and persisted through October, before falling steadily since November.

Resident unemployment, which refers to Singapore citizens and permanent residents, declined to 4.1 percent.   --Photo ST file

Singapore’s employment situation has continued to improve, with declines seen across the overall, resident and citizen unemployment rates, said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo on Wednesday (April 7).
A report by the Ministry of Manpower the same day revealed that the overall unemployment rate fell to 3.0 percent in February, down from 3.2 percent in January.
Resident unemployment, which refers to Singapore citizens and permanent residents, declined to 4.1 percent, from 4.3 percent in the preceding month.
Meanwhile, the citizen unemployment rate dropped from 4.5 percent to 4.3 percent.
Some 96,800 residents were unemployed in February this year, including 85,900 citizens.
In a Facebook post, Mrs Teo said: “Although the unemployment rates remain elevated and have not yet returned to pre-Covid-19 levels, we are seeing good progress with jobs growth.”
She noted that under the Jobs Growth Incentive, payouts were made to 27,000 employers, who collectively hired 130,000 locals in the first three months of scheme implementation.
“It is encouraging to see that Government support for employers to expand local hiring has nudged them to consider a more diverse group of job seekers. This includes those from different sectors, those who were previously not employed, and those aged 40 and above,” she added.
However, Mrs Teo cautioned that with every dip in the unemployment rate, the next drop will likely be harder to achieve.
“It depends on whether hiring demand is sustained among employers, and their willingness to look beyond candidates with familiar profiles,” she explained.
“The remaining job seekers too may need to consider job roles or sectors they previously did not, and be willing to invest time to re-skill.”

(Latest Update April 8, 2021)