Singapore Labor Market Expands Despite Global Uncertainty

By Amanda Lee

SINGAPORE--Singapore's labor market continued to expand in the second quarter despite more retrenchments and global uncertainty.

Total employment, excluding migrant domestic workers, added 10,700 during the quarter, preliminary data from the Ministry of Manpower showed Friday. That is higher than the 9,400 recorded in the first quarter of this year and the 10,400 seen during the same period a year ago.

Retrenchments rose to 4,500 in the second quarter, up from 3,830 in the first quarter, the data showed. However, the rise in retrenchments were mainly due to business restructuring in selected outward-oriented sectors, the ministry said.

"Labor demand remains resilient, and surveys indicate an uplift in employers' hiring sentiments," it added.

The overall unemployment rate in June remained low at 2.0% and was unchanged from March.

Looking ahead, the ministry said forward-looking indicators improved from June, with the share of firms expecting to hire in the next three months rising to 43.9% in June, up from 40.6% in May. At the same time, the share expecting to raise wages increased to 29.3% from 23.7% over the same period.

Those expecting to retrench also fell to 2.7% in June from 3.2% in May.

"The improvement in hiring, wage, and retrenchment expectations suggests that labour demand is resilient, even as firms remain cautious given economic uncertainties and continued business restructuring in some sectors," said the ministry.

Singapore has rolled out new support packages to households, businesses and affected workers this year to help cushion the impact and cost pressures stemming from the Middle East conflict.

Write to Amanda Lee at amanda.lee@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2026 22:44 ET (02:44 GMT)