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Thursday, December 03, 2020 – 1:00 pm
RESIDENT employment levels rebounded to nearly pre-Covid levels in the third quarter after taking a major hit in June, when the ‘circuit breaker’ was at its peak, according to findings from the Labor Force Singapore Advance Release 2020 ( LFAR).
“Despite the impact of the pandemic on the economy, the employment rate remained high (80.3 percent) for residents aged 25 to 64, most of whom are in their prime working age, and were close to the average in the last five years (80.5 percent). percent), ”says the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a press release.
But median real income fell 0.3%, reversing the 2.2% increase in 2019. “Despite moderation in 2020, median real income growth in the last five years (2015 to 2020: 2 , 7% per year) remained close to that during the previous five years (2010 to 2015: 3.1 percent per year), “says MOM.
The employment rate for women remained largely unchanged, while that for men fell by 0.9%. The employment rate for residents aged 65 and over continued its steady improvement, increasing by 0.9 percentage points from 27.6 percent in June 2019 to 28.5 percent in June 2020, which MOM attributes to ongoing efforts to increase the employability of older workers.
But the employment rate for 15-24-year-olds continued to decline, due to a longer stay in school. Many have started working part-time while continuing their studies, often in hospitality-related sectors that were hit hardest by the pandemic. “The two effects combined caused the employment rate to drop by 3.0 percentage points for this age group to the strongest among all age groups,” says MOM.
The resident unemployment rate for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) increased by 0.6%, below the increase in non-PMET (an increase of 1.7 percentage points from June 2019 to June 2020) , since “industries were more affected by Covid-19 have a higher concentration of non-PMET.”
The worst-hit industries also had a high concentration of people with lower incomes, including the self-employed whose incomes also fell. This has led to a 4.5% drop in real earnings for full-time workers at the 20th percentile. But when various government payments such as the Workfare Income Supplement and the Special Workfare Pay for low-income individuals, the 20th percentile income level in 2020 is similar to the level in 2019.
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