The MOM’s quarterly report comes amid growing job anxieties among young graduates.
Commenting on the labour market report, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said Singapore’s labour market remains resilient, with total employment continuing to expand despite global uncertainties.
The government was already watching the second quarter “very closely” as it marked the first quarter since the announcement of the United States Liberation Day tariffs on Apr 2, said Dr Tan.
Thus far, the government has pre-emptively introduced several support measures, such as the Graduate Industry Traineeships programme, and will continue to keep a close eye on the impact of US tariffs on the global economy, he said.
The traineeships are part of a new government-funded scheme offering up to 800 traineeship positions across the private and public sectors from October.
MOM noted that even with the increase, the latest resident unemployment rate for those below 30 remained within the pre-recessionary range of between 4.9 and 6.1 per cent.
An improvement in the long-term unemployment rate from 1.2 per cent in March to 1.1 per cent in June also suggests “no prolonged job search difficulties” for residents below 30, said Mr Ang Boon Heng, director of MOM’s manpower research and statistics department, in a media briefing held ahead of the launch of the report.
Long-term unemployment is defined as being jobless for at least 25 weeks.
Other age groups saw improvements in this indicator or held steady from the first quarter.
With that, the overall resident long-term unemployment rate was unchanged at 0.9 per cent in June, indicating “continued stability in job prospects”, MOM said.
As at June 2025, there were 4,270 entry-level job vacancies in the private sector for fresh graduates, based on data collated by the MOM through its surveys, job advertisement sites and the Workforce Singapore’s MyCareersFuture portal. These entry-level PMET vacancies were defined as roles with a salary range of S$2,300 to S$5,000.
Sectors with the biggest number of vacancies include public administration and education, health and social services, construction, as well as information and communications.
For example, in the public administration and education sector, there are 510 job openings for research and development managers and 350 vacancies for research officers.
