Chart of the Day: Job vacancy to unemployed ratio fell below 1.0 in 2019

The labour scene was already weakening even before the pandemic struck.

This chart from UOB showed that the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed individuals fell below 1.0 in 2019, the first time since 2017. This suggests that there had been more job seekers than vacancies and that Singapore’s labour market was already softening prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In particular, job creation in the trade-related sector was weak in Q4 2019, and a “modest degree of labour market slack had emerged at the end of last year.”

The latest figures from the Ministry of Manpower posted that total employment fell 19,900 QoQ in Q1. It was only cushioned by the jobs and wage support measures announced in the Budgets.

UOB is now expecting the unemployment rate to widen to 3.5% in 2020 should the COVID-19 pandemic be more severe and protracted than anticipated.