Youth employment rate falls to 34.1% in June

Declines are set to continue in the future as they are postponing work for further studies.

The resident employment rate for residents aged 15 to 24 fell to 34.1% in June, the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) revealed.

According to an advanced release, this reflects "the higher propensity of the youth to pursue further education and postpone entry into the labour force."

MoM said this is also due to an ageing population.

Meanwhile, the employment rate for Singapore residents aged 25 to 64 continued to increase to 80.7%, whilst the rate for those 65 and over increased to 25.8%.

The labour force participation rate (LFPR) for residents aged 15 and over declined slightly from 68% in June 2016 to 67.7% in June 2017, following sustained increases over the decade.

Amongst residents aged 25 to 64, LFPR continued to increase, reaching 83.6% in June 2017. However, the dip in overall LFPR did not reflect an increase in the number of discouraged workers, which fell slightly from 9,900 in June 2016 to 9,500 in June 2017, and stayed low at 0.4% of the resident labour force since June 2013.

The number of residents outside the labour force who intended to look for jobs in the next two years fell to a new low in June 2017 to 134,500 or 12% of residents outside the labour force.

"While the employment rates for residents aged 25 to 64 and 65 and over continue to increase, we expect population ageing and the higher propensity of youths to postpone entry into the labour force to exert downward pressure on the overall employment rate in the years ahead," MoM said.

It expects workforce growth to continue to slow further.

MoM also revealed that the median income rose faster in June. The nominal median monthly income of full-time employed residents increased by 4.3% to $4,232 in June 2017. The increase was 3.7% in real terms, higher than 3.3% in June 2016.