MOM Statement on Labour Market Developments, First Half of 2014

1. The Ministry of Manpower’s Statement on Labour Market Developments sets out the labour market situation for the first half of 2014 and outlook for the rest of the year. The key thrusts of the Statement are:
   
   i. The unemployment rate remained low and stable amid the tight labour market – The seasonally-adjusted citizen unemployment rate was 2.9% in June 2014, while the resident long-term unemployment remained amongst the lowest globally at 0.6%^p.
   
   ii. Foreign employment growth continued to slow in the first half of 2014, leading to the moderation of total employment growth – Foreign employment growth in the second quarter of 2014 (3,800) was the lowest since the third quarter of 2009 (700), contributing to lower year-on-year total employment growth of 3.8% in June 2014 (52,200 in 1H 2014, excluding Foreign Domestic Workers).
   
   iii. Hiring of locals remained strong – The 4.2% year-on-year growth in local employment in June 2014 (41,000 in 1H 2014) was supported by the continued steady increase in labour force participation of women and older residents.
   
   iv. The manpower-lean environment will continue to be a feature of the Singapore economy – The key to firms coping with tighter labour market conditions and sustaining higher wages is through productivity growth.
   
   v. More needs to be done to raise productivity, most critically in the Construction sector, as well as the more manpower-intensive industries within the Services sector – The Government is studying further measures to improve the quality of the Construction workforce.
2. The full MOM Statement on Labour Market Developments, First Half of 2014 is available at MOM Statements, and the Labour Market second quarter report is available on the Ministry of Manpower’s Statistics and Publications webpage.

^Pprovisional