Employment rose by 33,400 in the January-March quarter, nearly double the increase of 17,800 in the same quarter last year, the Ministry of Manpower said in a statement.

"All major sectors registered increases in employment, with the bulk of employment gains continuing to come from the services sector," the ministry said in its preliminary report.

The services sector added 17,900 jobs, manufacturing added 10,400 jobs, and construction added 5100 jobs.

The continued strong employment gains follow a recovery in the city-state's manufacturing industry, as demand for consumer electronics and oil rigs has surged.

"The employment outlook is still very strong given the pace of growth in the economy. We should see the labour market continue to tighten in the next two quarters," said Lim Su Sian, economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, adding that the unemployment rate "is still a multi-year low number."

The 2.6 percent jobless rate is the city-state's lowest since the April-June 2001 quarter.

According to the earlier reports from the Economic Development Board, new investment commitments in 2006 are forecast to generate some 20,000 to 25,000 jobs, of which 70 percent are higher-skilled professional positions.

Last week, United Test and Assembly Center Ltd. , the world's seventh-largest chip testing and packaging firm, said it would invest S$500 million (US$315.9 million) to set up a second plant, a move which would create up to 1000 jobs.

Job losses rose 3.1 percent to 3300 in the first quarter, with three-quarters of the retrenchment in the manufacturing sector, the ministry said in its report on Friday.

Singapore's manufacturing sector employs about 18 percent of the city-state's 2.1 million workforce, against 33 percent a decade ago. It is struggling to keep jobs in the face of competition from lower-cost countries such as China, Thailand and India.

On Monday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in its biannual review that the jobless rate would likely be at the same level as in the fourth quarter of 2005, which was 2.5 percent before the revision.

According to government advance estimates, Singapore's trade-dependent economy grew an annualised, seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent in the first quarter from the fourth quarter last year, moderating from the 12.5 percent in the previous quarter.

Singapore reports unemployment on a quarterly basis.
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