Singapore’s labour market expanded in the third quarter of 2023 despite a weaker economic outlook, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s latest Labour Market Advanced Release.

Total employment (excluding Migrant Domestic Workers) expanded for the eight consecutive quarter by 24,000 in Q3 2023, which was comparable to the previous quarter. Employment growth came from both residents and non-residents.

Resident employment expanded in growth sectors such as financial services and professional services, which generally had higher-paying jobs, as well as in health & social services. Meanwhile, non-resident employment expanded in sectors such as construction, retail trade, food & beverage services and administrative & support services.

The pace of employment growth has slowed compared to a year ago, amid the global economic slowdown, the Ministry added.

Unemployment rates have been largely stable and remained low in September 2023 (overall: 2.0%; resident: 2.8%; and citizen: 3.0%), despite the slight rise in July. While unemployment rates remained low due to continued labour market tightness, they have been on a slow uptrend, and may continue to rise further.

Layoffs rose from 3,200 in Q2 2023 to 4,100 in Q3 2023, with the majority of this increase from wholesale trade. This reflects the weaker external outlook the sector faced. The number of layoffs in other remaining sectors remained broadly stable or declined. Business reorganisation/ restructuring remained the top reason for cutbacks in Q3 2023.

Business expectations worsened in September 2023. The proportion of firms which indicated an intention to hire in the next three months fell from 58.2% to 42.8%. Similarly, the proportion of firms with an intention to raise wages dropped as well, from 28.0% to 18.0%.