Singapore: Unemployment rate spikes amid coronavirus pandemic

Singapore’s total employment rate has contracted as the impact of coronavirus and numbers of job losses has been started showing up in records. Singapore, which has reported over 52,800 COVID-19 cases, shut down its economy on April 7 to prevent the spread of the virus. It recently ordered businesses to resume on June 1.

147,500 jobs lost

Singapore Manpower Research and Statistics Department released the primary estimate which shows that employment declined by 147,500 jobs since the beginning of this year. Though businesses including retail outlets, cinemas and shops have reopened, experts believe it would take some time for them to reach their pre-pandemic consumer levels.

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In addition, the total unemployment in Q2 coverings, in that period saw the largest quarterly plunge ever as the pandemic took a toll on jobs. The unemployment in June rose but stayed behind previous months when it peaked. According to the official data, the overall unemployment rate in June 2020 rose to 2.9 per cent from 2.4 per cent in March 2020.

In addition, there were a total of 90,500 unemployed citizens and residents in June 2020. Experts revealed that at the height of the previous job crisis, 5,510 workers were made redundant in Q2 in 2003 whereas 12,760 people in Q1 criteria lost their jobs during the global financial meltdown in 2009.

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In contrast, US added as many as 4.8 million new jobs in the month of June, bringing down the unemployment rate to 11.1 per cent, latest monthly figures revealed, prompting President Donald Trump to say that the American economy was "roaring back" after being devastated by the deadly coronavirus pandemic. The unemployment rate declined by 2.2 percentage points to 11.1 per cent in June, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 3.2 million to 17.8 million. In all, 4.8 million jobs were created in June, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its latest report.

(With inputs from AP)

Image credits: AP