Singapore: Labour market improves in Q1 – UOB

Economist at UOB Group Barnabas Gan assesses the recent figures from the labour market in Singapore.

Key Quotes

“Singapore’s labour market improves further in the first quarter of 2021, suggesting further recovery from the negative effects of COVID-19. Overall, the unemployment rate fell further to 2.9% in March 2021, according to the provisional data by the Ministry of Manpower. Given that unemployment rates were at 3.2% and 3.0% in January and February 2021 respectively, Singapore’s average unemployment rate is at 3.0% in 1Q21, the lowest since 2Q20.”

“Encouragingly, total employment (excluding migrant domestic workers or MDWs) is estimated to have expanded by 4,800 persons in 1Q21.”

“Notwithstanding the improvement in employment data, Singapore’s labour market is still weaker compared to pre-COVID-19 levels.”

“All-in-all, we continue to expect unemployment rate to fall further to 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2021, a sizeable improvement from 3.3% in 4Q20. The recovery across sectors is expected to be uneven in 2021.”