SINGAPORE, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Wednesday that the country's unemployment rate for overall in the first quarter of 2020 reached 2.4 percent, compared to 2.3 percent in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for residents grew from 3.2 percent to 3.3 percent, and that for citizens grew from 3.3 percent to 3.5 percent, according to the Labor Market Advance Release First Quarter 2020.

Residents here refer to Singapore citizens and permanent residents, said the ministry.

The preliminary data from the report showed Singapore's total employment, excluding foreign domestic workers, was estimated to decrease by 19,900 in the first quarter, the sharpest quarterly contraction since the SARS outbreak. The ministry explained that SARS led to decrease of Singapore's total employment by 24,000 in the second quarter of 2003.

MOM attributes the contraction in the first quarter to a significant reduction in foreign employment. It added that the employment contractions were observed broadly across manufacturing, construction and services sectors.

Services experienced the sharpest decline, as consumer-facing food and beverage services and retail trade, and tourism-dependent accommodation were most severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, the ministry added.

Singapore's overall retrenchments in the first quarter hit 3,000, higher than the 2,670 for the previous quarter. Services saw an increase in retrenchments, while manufacturing and construction sectors had the number of retrenchments remain similar to that for the previous quarter.

(Photo: Agencies)