The overall seasonally adjusted unemployment rate surged to 2.3 percent inSeptember, up from 2.2 percent in June.
The rate for Singaporeans rose to 3.3 percent, from 3.2 percent, while the ratefor citizens and permanent residents combined rose to 3.2 percent, from 3.1 percent.
Retrenchments rose to 2,900 last quarter, up from 2,320 in the precedingquarter and 2,860 a year ago. Services continued to form the bulk of retrenchments(66 percent), followed by manufacturing (21 percent) and construction (14 percent).
However, total employment, excluding foreign domestic workers, rose by 22,400from July to September. This is more than three times the growth of 6,200 inthe previous quarter, and higher than the growth of 16,700 a year earlier.
According to the ministry, this was largely due to 16,100 more people findingwork in the service sector. The growth was mainly in community, social andpersonal services, professional services and information and communications,while the decline in employment in sectors such as wholesale and retail tradewas less than in the previous quarter.
The manufacturing sector employed 1,200 more workers, after three consecutivequarters of decline./.