Sound the alarms — unemployment rates have risen from a year ago, according to figures released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) today.
MOM's labour market report for the third quarter of 2016 painted a not-so-pretty picture about the state of employment in Singapore. A total of 13,730 workers were laid off in the first nine months of the year — higher than the amount recorded (10,220) in the same period in 2015. More worrying was the fact that the rates are considered the highest since 2009 (when 21,210 were laid off), and we had the global financial crisis to blame that year.