Unemployment rose to 2.1% in March 2012, up from 2% in December 2011. Job vacancies also declined by 5.1% to 46,800.

Other key findings from the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) Labour Report report for January to March 2012 are as follows:

• labour productivity fell 2.2%, after declining 0.5% in the previous quarter
• total employment rose by 27,000
• average monthly wages rose slightly by 0.9%
• employment gains came from service, construction and manufacturing industries

View Labour Market Q12012 report at MOM website.