-- Singapore's total employment grew by 5,000 during the first quarter of the year, compared to 2,300 a year earlier, marking the 18th consecutive quarter of job growth, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Manpower released Thursday.
Despite the year-on-year growth, employment was down from the 17,700 growth in the previous quarter, mainly due to broad-based weakening in the labor market.
Overall, unemployment rates edged up to 2.1% in March, compared to 2.0% in December 2025.
Retrenchments remained low at 1.5 per 1,000 employees in Q1, unchanged from Q4, 2025.
The ministry expects labor market to remain tight and expand in the second quarter. However, the share of firms expecting to hire in the next three months fell to 44.6% in March, compared to 54.6% in February.