SINGAPORE, Sept 14 — In light of economic headwinds, hiring sentiments continued to be cautious for the second quarter of this year. The number of job vacancies offered on the market continued to decline from the previous quarter, as the resident unemployment rate inched upwards, based on the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) latest labour market report released on Thursday. 

For the first time since December 2017, there were fewer job vacancies than unemployed persons. In June, there were 93 job openings per 100 job seekers. In comparison, there were 108 job vacancies per 100 job seekers in March. 

Nevertheless, MOM noted that the "retrenchments remained low and the resident long-term unemployment rate held steady”. 

The resident unemployment rate increased marginally from 3 per cent in March to 3.1 per cent in June. The seasonally-adjusted resident long-term unemployment rate — referring to the number of people unemployed for at least 25 weeks — remained unchanged at 0.7 per cent. 

Here are the key findings from the report: 

Demand for labour continued to ease for the second consecutive quarter, with the number of job openings dropping from 57,100 in March to 47,700 in June.

The seasonally-adjusted ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons dipped from 1.08 in March to 0.94 in June — similar to the ratio in December 2017.

The bulk of job vacancies were for PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians). As of June, about six in 10 of job openings were PMET positions. The remaining vacancies were for production and related workers, and clerical, sales and service workers. 

What economists say

Economists TODAY spoke to said that the cautious hiring approach taken by employers is largely due to global headwinds.

 Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at OCBC Bank, cited the trade tensions between the United States and China, China’s slowdown and the risk of a no-deal Brexit. 

"Until we see signs of a growth pickup and the resolution of some of these uncertainties, the job vacancies may remain somewhat muted,” she said.

DBS senior economist Irvin Seah noted that the main gauge of the health of the labour market is the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons.

"It has remained above one for several quarters. Now it’s below one — which essentially means there are fewer job vacancies than unemployed persons… It does suggest that the labour market is really turning south,” he added. 

Maybank Kim Eng’s economist Chua Hak Bin said he expects employment growth to "fall to near zero in the third quarter” as recent manpower surveys point to more muted hiring.

Total employment growing