Amid a tight labour market, there were more job vacancies last year than the year before, based on a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) report released on Monday.

There were 61,900 vacancies in September 2013, up 9.7 per cent from a year ago.

Positions for service and sales workers - such as shop sales assistants, waiters and security guards - accounted for the largest share or 25 per cent of all vacancies.

The services industry also accounted for four in five of all job vacancies, mainly in community, social and personal services; accommodation and food services; wholesale and retail trade; and administrative and support services.

Four in 10 vacancies went unfilled for six months or longer. Most of these were vacancies for non-PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians).

The share of vacancies considered hard to fill with Singaporeans or permanent resident hires was the same as a year ago, at 66 per cent.

The top reasons were unattractive pay and physically strenuous work, which the MOM said was "largely reflecting the concentration of lower-skilled occupations among hard-to-fill vacancies".