Manpower Minister Josephine Teo and private economists warned on April 28, 2021 that the outlook for the labour market for the rest of the years depends heavily on how the Covid-19 pandemic unfolds. — TODAY picSINGAPORE, April 29 — For the first three months of the year, the labour market looked to be on the mend based on the latest official estimates, but the outlook for the rest of the year hangs in the balance and will very much depend on Covid-19’s trajectory.
It also stated that unemployment rates have continued to ease — though they remain far from pre-pandemic levels — and that retrenchments fell for a second straight quarter to 2,100. MOM said in its report that this was at pre-pandemic levels.‘Don’t get carried away’CIMB private banking economist Song Seng Wun said the gradual easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Singapore and the increase of more in-person activities are indications that economic activities are being ramped up.
Chua Hak Bin, an economist at Maybank Kim Eng, added that while the retrenchment figure for this quarter has dropped drastically, whether it remains that way depends on whether the virus causes another round of lockdowns. “It was very encouraging that employers were taking the opportunity to backfill the positions that had become vacant during the circuit breaker,” she said.
Food services is one such sector, and Song noted that there have been more food and beverage establishments opening than have been closing.