Chart of the Day: Job retrenchments hit 5-year low in Q1

There were 2,320 retrenchments in Q1, down from 4,000 a year ago.

This chart from Ministry of Manpower (MOM) shows that there were 2,320 retrenchments in the first quarter of 2018, lower than the previous quarter (3,680) and a year ago (4,000).

According to its labour market report, the number of retrenchments was also the lowest since the first quarter of 2013 (2,120).

The decline over the quarter was broad-based across industries. Services formed the bulk of the retrenchments (63%), mainly in wholesale trade, financial services, and professional services.

"Business restructuring and reorganisation continued to be the top reason cited for retrenchments in the first quarter of 2018," MOM said.

There were more job vacancies than people without jobs in Singapore as its unemployed ratio improved from 0.92 in December 2017 to 1.04 in March 2018, the first time since March 2016.

The overall unemployment rate with seasonal adjustment in Singapore slipped from 2.1% in December 2017 to 2.0% in March 2018.