SINGAPORE (Thomson Financial) - Singapore's unemployment rate rose to 1.8 percent in the first quarter from 1.6 percent in thefourth quarter as weaker demand from the United States forced companies to cut jobs, government data showed on Wednesday.The Ministry of Manpower said about 2,000 workers lost their jobs during the quarter, many of them from electronics manufacturing companies, which are seeing softer demand from consumers in the United States, a major export market.On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the jobless rate edged up to 2.0 percent in the first quarter from1.7 percent in the previous quarter, the ministry said.But overall employment in the city-state grew by 68,400 for the quarter as services andconstruction industries continued to hire workers.
($1 = S$1.36)
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