SINGAPORE - Employment continued to rise in the third quarter but Singapore’s job market recovery showed signs of a “slowing momentum”, the Ministry of Manpower said on Friday, as retrenchments swung up and the unemployment rate climbed.
“In the coming months, a deteriorating global economic environment, higher global inflation, as well as geopolitical tensions, will impact the labour market,” it added. It also said there are some early indications that the rate of growth in employment is slowing amid lower economic growth. According to the report, employment growth in construction increased by over 20 per cent to 30,500, from 25,200 the previous quarter – outpacing the increase in growth seen between the first and second quarters of 2022.
Over the quarter, the number of unemployed residents rose from 69,300 in June to 70,900 in September.On the hiring outlook, MOM said: “While forward-looking data shows that overall hiring sentiments among firms remain optimistic, there could be some unevenness in growth across sectors in the final quarter of 2022.”