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Job growth in Singapore this year likely the slowest since 2003: DBS
Singapore’s job growth this year is expected to be the slowest since 2003 amid the challenging economic environment, according to a forecast by DBS.
Painting a gloomy picture of the job market a day after the Manpower Ministry released its latest jobs data, DBS said on Friday (16 September) that the growth this year is likely to fall short of its “already bearish forecast of about 29,000” jobs. It is also unlikely to match the number of retrenched workers, the bank added.
In addition, job losses in Singapore could reach 18,900 this year – the worst since the global financial crisis in 2009 – as total redundancies had already reached 9,510 in the first half of 2016, DBS projected.
MOM said in its report on Thursday (15 September) that job seekers outnumbered job openings as of June for the first time since June 2012. Total employment growth slowed significantly to 4,200 in the second quarter, from 13,000 in the first quarter.
Singapore’s unemployment rate rose to 2.1 per cent in June from 1.9 per cent in March.
On the outlook for 2016, MOM said labour demand is expected to stay modest and redundancies to continue rising in sectors that are facing weak external demand.
