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Singapore’s jobless rate, layoffs up in Q2: MOM

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File photo of workers at Raffles Place

Singapore’s unemployment rate rose in the second quarter from the first amid the slowing global economy.

The unemployment rate among citizens grew to 3.1 per cent in June from 2.6 per cent in March after falling in the previous quarter, while that for residents rose to 3.0 per cent from 2.7 per cent, advanced labour data released by Ministry of Manpower on Thursday (28 July) showed.

The overall unemployment rate rose to 2.1 per cent from 1.9 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Layoffs rose 16.8 per cent, with the number of workers made redundant increasing to 5,500 from 4,710, reversing from a decline in March. The number of redundancies in the services sector was 3,400, followed by manufacturing at 1,600 and construction at 400.

Total employment growth slowed with 5,500 net jobs created in the second quarter, falling 57.7 per from 13,000 in the first quarter. The services and construction sectors saw a net addition of 8,600 and 400 jobs, respectively, while the manufacturing sector posted a net decline of 3,400 jobs.