The official full-year data is in line with advance reports released in January this year
The labour market improved in 2017 in line with an economic pick-up, MOM said in its 2017 full-year labour report.
Labour productivity growth was more than double that of 2016, according to the ministry.
The resident long-term unemployment rate remained unchanged over the year, while local employment growth nearly doubled from 11,200 in 2016 to 21,300 in 2017.
Growth was seen mainly in sectors with relatively higher shares of PMETs, such as the Financial & Insurance Services, Information & Communications, Professional Services, and Healthcare sectors.
Foreign employment continued to decline in 2017 – with a decrease of 32,000 foreign employees in 2017, compared to 2016’s figure of 2,500.
There were also significantly fewer retrenchments and more job vacancies, and the resident re-entry rate remained stable.
