Breaking: Third quarter employment figures released

The Manpower Research and Statistics Department at the Ministry of Manpower has announced its preliminary employment statistics for the third quarter (Q3) of 2015.
 
HR directors performed fewer redundancies in Q3 this year with the total number continuing to drop for the third consecutive quarter. 2,900 workers were laid off in Q3, down from 3,250 in the second quarter.
 
Overall employment grew by 16,400 in Q3, which is up from the growth of 9,700 in Q2. This increase was spurred by growth in the services and construction sectors. In total, there were 3,644,000 people employed in September 2015, an increase of 1.7% from the same time last year.
 
The overall unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.0% in September 2015. Among residents however, the rate increased slightly from 2.8% to 3.0%. Unemployment among citizens also moved up from 2.9% to 3.1% across the quarter.
 
MOM and the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) say they are ready to upgrade displaced workers, giving employers access to a wider pool of skilled candidates.