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Singapore's unemployment rates rose in July 2021, for the first time in 10 months.

In a Facebook post on Monday (Sep. 6), Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will continue to monitor the unemployment rates closely.

Unemployment up after 10 months

Amidst the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, Singapore's unemployment rate rose steadily, culminating in the highest rates the country had seen in over a decade in September 2020.

The citizen unemployment rate hit 4.9 per cent, while the resident rate (which includes citizens and permanent residents) reached 4.8 per cent, and the overall unemployment rate peaked at 3.5 per cent.

As the pandemic situation stabilised and the economy reopened, unemployment dropped steadily, down to 3.7 per cent (citizen), 3.5 per cent (resident), and 2.7 per cent (overall) unemployment rates in June 2020.

However, July 2021 saw the unemployment rates increase slightly again, amid tighter Covid-19 restrictions during Phase 2 (Heightened Alert).

The citizen and resident unemployment rates rose by 0.2 per cent to 3.9 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.

The overall unemployment rate rose by 0.1 per cent, from 2.7 per cent to 2.8 per cent.

This "likely reflect[ed] a dip in demand for manpower in affected sectors such as F&B and retail trade", Tan wrote in his Facebook post.

MOM will monitor unemployment rates closely

In addition to continuing to closely monitor Singapore's unemployment rates, Tan added that MOM will also provide a more comprehensive update in their Labour Market Report later in September.

"As Singapore moves towards becoming a Covid-resilient nation, measures will be relaxed further as more sectors of our economy reopen.

This will help boost manpower demand and allow our labour market to continue recovering."

He also encouraged companies to "constantly pursue innovation and review their business operations to meet the changing needs of the economy".

Tan added that initiatives such as the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package can place jobseekers in jobs and skills opportunities.

He said that MOM and Workforce Singapore will continue to match workers with available opportunities, in order to support both jobseekers and employers:

"We remain committed towards ensuring that our businesses and workers are well-equipped to face challenges in the future."

Jobseekers can find out more about Workforce Singapore's programmes and career advisory and matching services online, or by calling the WSG hotline at 6883 5885.

In addition, a list of upcoming outreach events organised by Workforce Singapore and NTUC's e2i are available online here and here.

Top photo via Andrew Koay. 

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