Singapore’s resident labour force continued to see improvements in 2022 compared to a year ago, according to the latest Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2022.

The labour force data also found that a larger proportion of the resident population was engaged in work. The employment rate for residents aged 15 and over rose for the second consecutive year to reach 67.5% in 2022, higher than the pre-Covid-19 rate in 2019 by 2.3% points. If ranked against Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries on overall employment rate, Singapore would place third.

In terms of job profile, PMETs (Professionals, Managers, Executives, and Technicians) made up 64% of all employed residents in 2022, an increase from 62% in 2021. The higher share reflects a highly educated workforce and sustained employment growth in sectors such as Information & Communications, Financial & Insurance and Professional Services.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell over the year, from 3.4% to 2.6% for PMETs and from 5.1% to 4.4% for non-PMETs. The long-term unemployment rate also decreased to around pre-Covid levels for both PMETs (0.8% to 0.5%) and non-PMETs (0.9% to 0.7%).

The broad-based improvement in resident labour force performance reflects the continued economic recovery and the gradual normalisation of business and social activities.

Other indicators on labour under-utilisation have also improved to pre-Covid levels. The number and incidence of discouraged workers continued to decrease from 11,600 or 0.5% of the resident labour force in 2021, to 8,900 or 0.4% in 2022, reflecting a strong recovery from the height of the pandemic in 2020. Discouraged workers refers to persons outside the labour force who are not actively looking for a job because they believe their job search would not yield results.

With the economic recovery, the scale-back in Covid-related temporary jobs, and the tight labour market, the proportion of employees in non-permanent employment also fell back to pre-COVID levels (11%).

Real median income growth improved from 0.9% in 2021 to 2.1% in 2022, as strong nominal income growth outstripped higher inflation. However, real median income growth in 2022 was still lower than that in the years preceding the pandemic (2014-2019: 3.8% p.a.), when inflation was lower.

Lower-wage workers saw stronger income growth than the median worker, supported by tripartite initiatives such as the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) which are aimed at uplifting lower-wage workers. Real income for the 20^th percentile worker grew by 4.8% in 2022, faster than the previous year (4.4%) as well as the pre-Covid years (2014-2019: 4.4% p.a.).