Chart of the Day: Employment Diffusion Index fell to 38.7 in March

This is said to suggest a fall out in the labour market.

This chart from OCBC Bank shows that the Employment Diffusion Index (EDI), which measures the breadth of the employment change, fell to 38.7 in March from 55.7 in December 2019.

This is said to suggest a global or external trigger causing the downturn in growth and the fall out in the labour market, rather than a particular structural issue like a sunset industry or a specific competitiveness issue per se.

OCBC Bank notes that losses are already becoming widespread across industries in March, albeit mostly at the expense of foreign employment at this juncture. This may also mean that when the external economy rebounds as the pandemic subsides, the prospects for a general growth rebound accompanied by a broad-based recovery in the labour market may also be in the pipeline.

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