Singapore employment growth down sharply in Q3

SINGAPORE employment growth fell sharply from a year ago in the third quarter, bringing growth in the first nine months of this year down to the lowest since the recession year of 2009.

Total employment rose 12,600 in the third quarter - against an earlier estimate of 16,400, and 33,400 for the same quarter a year ago.

"Cumulatively for the first three quarters of this year, total employment grew by 16,200, which is the lowest growth since 2009," the Ministry of Manpower said in a press release on the Labour Market Report, Third Quarter 2015.

This is down sharply from 89,400 in the first three quarters of 2014.

Overall unemployment rate stayed at a seasonally adjusted 2 per cent in September, but resident unemployment increased to 3 per cent and citizen unemployment rose to 3.1 per cent, due to softer economic conditions.

Workers laid off jumped from 3,250 in the preceding quarter to 3,460 in the third quarter. Job openings continued to outnumber job seekers but the ratio has eased. Seasonally adjusted vacancies fell over the quarter by 11 per cent to 55,600 in September.

The seasonally adjusted ratio of job openings to unemployed declined to 116 vacancies per 100 job seekers in September, from 121 in June.