The real median income of a full-time worker in Singapore rose by 2.2 per cent in 2019, including employer CPF contributions.

This was half of the 4.4 per cent growth recorded in 2018, according to the numbers released by the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) "Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2019" report.

However, these numbers are preliminary as the 2019 data for the Consumer Price Index is not yet available.

MOM noted that the real median income growth of the past five years, 2014 to 2019, stood at 3.8 per cent per annum.

This is more than the figure of 1.9 per cent in the five years before that, although those years took place after the catastrophic Great Recession of 2007 to 2009.

However, there was good news for low-wage workers, as income at the 20th percentile (or bottom 20 per cent of workers) rose by 4.4 per cent per annum, from 2014 to 2019, adjusted for inflation.

Employment is up

Besides wage growth, the report showed that employment numbers have improved.

The employment rate for residents aged 25 to 64 rose by 0.5 per cent to 80.8 per cent in June 2019, from 80.3 per cent in June 2018.

The sectors that saw a rise in hiring include:

• Professional services.
• Financial & insurance services.
• Information & communications.
• Community, social & personal services.
• Food and beverage.

The employment rate for older workers (aged 65 and above) saw a bigger increase, from 26.8 per cent to 27.6 per cent in the same time frame.

PMET and contract workers

The unemployment rate for PMETs remained at 2.9 per cent in June 2019 as compared to June 2018.

But long-term unemployment dropped to 0.6 per cent from 0.8 per cent over the same time frame.

Singapore's definition of long-term unemployment refers to those who have been unemployed for 25 weeks or more (around 6 months).

More people were employed on fixed term contracts, 7.2 to 7.6 per cent, which MOM suggested was a sign of greater caution among employers.

However, the vast majority (89.3 per cent) of the workforce are permanent workers.

You can check out the full report at this link.

Job-seekers are encouraged to tap on the available support schemes under the Adapt & Grow Initiative by MOM and Workforce Singapore.

Top image from Pixabay.