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SINGAPORE: Singapore’s unemployment rate in November fell for the first time in 2020, a sign that the worst could have happened for the labor market amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The overall unemployment rate in November was 3.3 percent, falling from 3.6 percent in October.
The resident unemployment rate, among Singaporeans and permanent residents, fell from 4.8% in October to 4.6% in November.
As for the unemployment rate for citizens, it fell from 4.9 percent in October to 4.7 percent in November.
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Singapore’s unemployment rate had risen steadily since the first quarter of 2018, when the overall unemployment rate was 2.0%, before COVID-19 exacerbated the situation.
The overall unemployment rate in the last quarter of 2019 was 2.3% before reaching a peak of 3.6% in September and October.
Economists previously said that the labor market will bottom out by the end of 2020 and stabilize until the middle of this year.
Releasing the figures in a visit to the Employment and Employability Institute on Friday (January 8), Labor Minister Josephine Teo warned that while the drop in unemployment is “a relief,” it must be analyzed with other indicators. like employment. The latest employment figures will be released at the end of January.
He said the economic and labor market recovery is likely to be uneven and uneven, unlike the rapid recovery seen during the global financial crisis, nor the “steady improvement” during the SARS period.
“Some of the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak will be quite long-lasting, not only for people’s health, but even (for) businesses,” he said, adding that the pandemic continues to grow and poses significant health risks in other countries. .
“There will continue to be pressure on companies to adapt (and) if companies are transforming, then that could be the impact on the labor sector.”
The general secretary of the National Congress of Trade Unions, Ng Chee Meng, who was with Ms Teo during the visit, also urged to be cautious about the looming labor market.
“We are not out of the woods yet,” Mr. Ng said.
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Certain sectors of our economy will still be under pressure, he said, specifically citing the aviation, aerospace, hospitality and tourism industries.
He gave an update on the work of the Occupational Safety Council, announcing that the group has matched 28,000 job seekers for new positions.
The council was created in February last year to help match displaced workers or those at risk of losing their jobs in other functions.
The Ministry of Manpower publishes monthly unemployment figures since July 2020. Previously, the rates were published quarterly.
