Unemployment at 2% last year

SINGAPORE – Employment growth remained strong last year amid a tight labour market but the number of workers laid off was higher than that in 2013, a Ministry of Manpower’s Employment Situation report showed today (Jan 30).

A total of 129,000 found new jobs last year, a shade lower than that of 2013 (136,200) but comparable to the 2012 figures (129,100). Employment growth among locals rose, as foreign employment growth continued to moderate. Services (118,600) formed the bulk of employment gains, followed by construction (14,500) and manufacturing (-4,600). Unemployment stayed largely unchanged at 2 per cent.

But redundancies climbed to 12,800 versus 2013’s 11,560, largely because of business restructuring.