The employment rate of Singapore citizens has risen over the last decade, from 60 per cent in June 2009 to 63.6 per cent in June 2019.

These results, which were a follow up to a report released in 2011, were published in an occasional paper released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Jan. 23, 2020.

The paper also revealed that the the number and share of professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) among employed Singaporeans have increased steadily over the decade.

Increase in employment driven most consistently by the elderly

The occasional paper showed that the  increase in employment rates of Singaporeans was driven most consistently by those aged 65 and above.

According to MOM, this reflected the ministry's efforts to raise the employability of older workers.

On the other hand, the employment rate among citizens aged 15 to 24 declined in recent years, due to more people within the age group being engaged in further studies.

Income growth in last five years stronger than preceding five years

The paper also stated that income growth among Singapore citizens was faster in the recent five years of the decade compared to the earlier five years.

According to MOM, the real median income growth for full-time employed Singaporeans from June 2014 to June 2019 was 3.9 per cent per annum.

This was faster than the growth from June 2009 to June 2014, which was 2.1 per cent per annum.

At the same time, real income growth at the 20th percentile was also faster in the recent five years, at 4.6 per cent per annum, compared to the earlier five years, at 1.5 per cent per annum.

Slightly higher percentage of citizens unemployed compared to residents

On the other hand, the unemployment rate for Singapore citizens, which was 3.2 per cent in June 2019, was slightly higher than the 3.1 per cent for all residents of Singapore.

This was despite the Singapore citizen unemployment rate being broadly stable, with an average of 3.1 per cent from 2010 to 2019.

According to MOM, this is to be expected because employability is often a key consideration for the granting of permanent residency.

Citizen data and resident data track each other very closely

Manpower Minister Josephine Teo also chimed in on the issue with a Facebook post, saying that there is no "sinister reason" that resident data is not broken down into Singapore citizens and permanent residents.

"Internationally, statistical agencies cover the entire population residing in their country without a breakdown by nationality. The aim is comprehensive data coverage, so that analyses and comparison are accurate and meaningful."

She said that citizens make up a large majority, or 85 per cent of the resident labour force.

On the other hand, the PR population is relatively small and stable, as they typically have to demonstrate high degrees of employability before being granted residency.

This means that the PR population does not have a significant impact on trends, as citizen data and resident data track each other very closely.

As a result, there is no need to present these additional data sets all the time, with the exception of such occasional papers, which study the data over longer time periods, she said.

"I am confident that Singaporeans, being rational and reasonable, will understand this approach to statistical reporting and not fall prey to attempts to sow distrust between Government and the people through suspicious lines of questioning that cast shadows where there are none," she said.

Teo also used a chinese idiom, 杯弓蛇影, or bei gong she ying, which means to be overly suspicious, to illustrate her point.

Statistics and politics

Teo recently instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulations Act (POFMA) Office to issue Correction Directions against posts made by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) over statistics on local PMET unemployment.

The SDP chose to challenge the order in court, and the proceedings are ongoing.

Earlier this month in Parliament, Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh and Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing clashed over the release of statistics on employment of Singaporeans, PRs and foreigners.

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Top image from Josephine Teo's Facebook.