By Elishya Perera
SINGAPORE (CWBN)_According to the report issued by the Ministry of Manpower, the resident unemployment rate rose to 4.5 per cent. This showed an increase of 0.4 per cent, in the month of August, as opposed to the increase of 0.3 per cent in July. During the global financial crisis in September 2009, the rate stood at 3.3 per cent, while the highest overall unemployment rate of 4.8 per cent was recorded during the SARS outbreak, in September 2003.
Although the unemployment rates are usually released on a quarterly basis, recently the Ministry of Manpower has begun to track the unemployment rate on a monthly basis to “monitor the labour situation more closely”.
The government implemented various economic support measures, including the Jobs Support Scheme, which provides wage subsidies to help companies retain local workers, as well as the newly introduced programme in the form of the Jobs Growth Incentive, which provides wage subsidies for each new local hired below 40.
According to the report, these support measures are expected to offset some of the rise in the resident unemployment rate by about 1.7 per cent this year, thereby saving about 155,00 jobs in 2020 and 2021, although overall job losses would take place.
Manpower Minister Josephine Teo stated that while it cannot be determined if the unemployment rates would increase in the coming months, 60,000 or so long-term jobs are currently available, a large part of it still coming from the private sector.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said, “There are growth sectors in Singapore. COVID is going to reshape the economy, reshape the labor market quite significantly. But if we can build the right skills and build the right career ladder, I think we can emerge stronger from this”.
