Singapore s unemployment rate continues downward trend in May 2021 Details Published: 02 July 2021
Minister for Manpower, Tan See Leng, said the data is a good sign that our labour market is steadily improving .
Declines were seen in unemployment across all categories, namely:
Citizens - from 4.1% in April 2021 to 4% in May 2021
Residents (Singapore citizens & permanent residents) - from 3.9% in April 2021 to 3.8% in May 2021
Overall - from 2.9% in March & April 2021 to 2.8% in May 2021.
In actual terms, this means that 88,600 residents were unemployed in May 2021, including 79,000 citizens, based on seasonally adjusted data. However, we remain cautiously optimistic about the situation as we continue to see resurgence of the virus globally and have also yet to see the full impact of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) restrictions, which began in mid-May.
Based on Manpower Research and Statistics Department’s (MRSD) report, unemployment rates in April 2021 for residents and citizens declined marginally by 0.1%-point to 3.9% and 4.1% respectively, compared to March 2021.