Singapore's unemployment rates continue to decline in January: MOM

SINGAPORE'S overall and resident unemployment rates continued to fall in January, while citizen unemployment held steady, according to latest figures released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Wednesday.

The overall unemployment rate edged down to 3.2 per cent, from 3.3 per cent in December, while the resident unemployment rate was 4.3 per cent, down from 4.4 per cent.

The citizen unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.5 per cent, having earlier decreased from 4.7 per cent in November.

There were 101,900 unemployed residents in January, of which 89,300 were citizens.

Separately, the Conditions of Employment report on Wednesday showed that 78 per cent of firms offered at least one formal flexible work arrangement in 2020, up from 53 per cent in 2019, as companies adopted such practices in order to operate safely in the Covid-19 pandemic.

Including informal arrangements such as unplanned time off or ad hoc tele-working, 93 per cent of firms offered some form of flexi-work, covering 97 per cent of employees.

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The proportion of full-time employees with an annual leave entitlement of at least 15 days dipped slightly to 47.6 per cent, from 48.1 per cent in 2018. This suggests that most employers did not cut annual leave in order to reduce manpower cost pressures, said the MOM.