SINGAPORE, Oct 31 (Bernama) — The job market in the third quarter of 2013 stayed tight, as unemployment declined amid fewer layoffs, according to the Ministry of Manpower.

Employment creation remained high, though it moderated from the previous quarter.

These are the key preliminary findings from the “Employment Situation, Third Quarter 2013” report released by the Ministry of Manpower’s Research and Statistics Department.

The report said unemployment remained low, reflecting strong manpower demand.

Preliminary estimates showed that the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate was 1.8 per cent in September 2013, down from 2.1 per cent in June 2013.

Similarly, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased over the quarter from 2.9 per cent to 2.6 per cent for residents and from 3.1 per cent to 2.8 per cent for Singapore citizens.

Employment growth was driven mainly by services and construction, which added more workers than in the same period last year.

Total employment rose by 28,100 in the third quarter of 2013, lower than the gains of 33,700 in the previous quarter, but higher than the 26,200 in the third quarter last year.

This brought total employment to 3,448,300 in September 2013, which was 4.1 per cent higher than a year ago.

Redundancy declined, after increasing in the previous quarter. Some 2,600 workers were laid off in the third quarter of 2013, down from 3,080 in the preceding quarter and 2,850 in the third quarter of 2012.