SINGAPORE – In the latest signs that Singapore’s labour market is cooling, unemployment crept up in July, and the demand for workers dropped again in the second quarter of 2023.
For residents – citizens and permanent residents – the rate rose to 2.8 per cent in July, up from 2.7 per cent in June. About one in five vacancies in June 2023 was in the professional services, information and communications, and financial services sectors.The ratio of job vacancies to unemployed workers was 1.94 in June, down from 2.28 in March.
On the higher number of foreigners in jobs, MOM said that the majority of them were from work permit holders in the construction industry. He added that in the middle of the year, these numbers will drop but pick back up again quickly in a cyclical fashion.