SINGAPORE--Singapore's labor market conditions remain uncertain as risks and uncertainties in the global economy linger even as the city-state's Covid-19 situation is under control and its vaccination program is underway, the Ministry of Manpower said.
Singapore's total employment, excluding foreign domestic workers, fell 166,600 in 2020, the biggest drop in more than two decades, data from the ministry showed Tuesday. Non-resident employment dropped 181,500 while resident employment grew 14,900.
The overall annual average unemployment rate rose to 3.0% in 2020 from 2.3% in 2019, according to the data. The number of retrenchments increased to 26,110 in 2020 from 10,690 in 2019.
Singapore's outward-oriented sectors are expected to benefit from the pick-up in external demand. The information & communications and financial & insurance services sectors are likely to continue posting steady growth, supported by sustained enterprise demand for IT and digital solutions, and credit and payment processing services, respectively, the ministry said.
The tourism and aviation-related sectors will probably recover at a slower pace, owing to the slow lifting of global travel restrictions and weak global demand for air travel. The city-state's labor market recovery may be gradual and uneven across sectors, the ministry said.
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