Non-resident employment crash in Q3 offset by local jobs

Rate of unemployment still rising but slows down in Q3.

Almost 90% of the contraction in total employment between January and September are non-residents and continues to decline in Q3, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) reported.

“This is because of a strong rebound in resident employment in Q3, which offset most of the declines we saw in the first two quarters of the year,” the MOM said.

The ministry also reported that resident employment levels in September are almost back to pre COVID-19 levels.

The rise in resident employment is said to be the reflection of the strong support measures implemented by the government such as the Jobs Support Scheme and programmes under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package.

The government recently released $1b for the Jobs Growth Incentive, which provides up to 50% salary support for eligible new local hires from September 2020 to February 2021.

The MOM also reported that although seasonally adjusted unemployment rates continued to rise in September 2020, the pace of increase slowed from before with unemployment rates unchanged from September and October.