Employment continued to rise in the third quarter but Singapore’s job market recovery showed signs of a “slowing momentum”, the Ministry of Manpower said on Friday, as retrenchments swung up and the unemployment rate climbed.

In advance estimates for the quarter, MOM said total employment – excluding migrant domestic workers – rose 75,600 from the previous quarter.

But there was a “slight uptick” in unemployment rates and an increase in retrenchments, though both indicators were still on a par with or below pre-Covid-19 levels.

In The Straits Times’ The Big Story, Multimedia Cheow Sue-Ann speaks with NTUC assistant secretary-general Patrick Tay to discuss these developments.