Yahoo Finance 
Singapore real incomes fell in 2023 amid high inflation, resident employment rate declined: MOM
However, Singapore's employment rate still ranked the fourth highest among OECD countries.
SINGAPORE — Though nominal income for Singapore workers rose in 2023 compared to 2022, real income for workers in the 20th percentile (P20) and those in the median group (P50) declined.
According to the advance release of the annual labour force report by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) published on Thursday (30 November), workers in P20 saw an increase in nominal income of S$2,826 in 2023 – up from S$2,779 in 2022. Workers in P50 saw a nominal income increase from S$5,070 in 2022 to S$5,197 in 2023.
However, after taking inflation into account, real income in 2023 for workers in the P20 group fell three per cent year-on-year. This decline was smaller after accounting for the Workfare Income Supplement and related payments, decreasing to 2.1 per cent year-on-year. Workers in the P50 group also saw a decrease in real income of 2.3 per cent year-on-year.
While real income growth for the remainder of 2023 is likely to remain negative, MOM said, it expects an improvement in real income growth in 2024 as inflation eases. It added that real income growth remained positive over the decade, and wage dispersion between the P20 and P50 worker has narrowed as the incomes of lower-wage workers rose faster than that of the median worker.
Unemployment and long-term unemployment rates improved
The employment rate for residents declined to 66.2 per cent in 2023 from a historical high of 67.5 per cent in 2022 amid an "exceptionally tight" labour market, said MOM.
However, the employment rate remained the fourth highest compared to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, indicating a resilient labour market despite the weak economic environment in 2023. This puts Singapore ahead of countries such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
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Meanwhile, the unemployment rates and long-term unemployment rates for both PMETs (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians) and non-PMETs improved in 2023. Non-PMETs' unemployment rate fell from 4.4 per cent in 2022 to 3.6 per cent in 2023, while the unemployment rate for PMETs dipped from 2.6 per cent in 2022 to 2.4 per cent in 2023.
For the long-term unemployment rate, which refers to the percentage of persons aged 15 years and over who have been unemployed for 25 weeks or more, non-PMETs saw a decline from 0.7 per cent in 2022 to 0.5 per cent in 2023. The long-term unemployment rate for PMETs fell from 0.5 per cent in 2022 to 0.4 per cent in 2023.
The report concluded that economic headwinds will continue to weigh on the labour market.
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