Another sign that we may not be out of the woods yet..

Singapore's economy plummeted nearly 20 percent in the first quarter, its biggest contraction ever!

Gross domestic product plunged an annualized, seasonally adjusted 19.7 percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter and fell 11.5 percent from a year earlier, both record drops.

The government now expects the economy to shrink between 6 percent and 9 percent this year from a previous forecast of a drop between 2 percent and 5 percent. This is another revision to the numbers. This showing suggests that Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong _ may face deeper and longer recessions than previously estimated.

Non-oil exports, which accounted for about 60 percent of GDP last year, fell 26 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier. One bright spot was exports rose a seasonally adjusted 11 percent in March from the previous month. March exports fell 17 percent from a year earlier.

Manufacturing fell 29 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier while services fell 5.9 percent. Construction rose 26 percent. Imports fell 28 percent last month from a year earlier and dropped a seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent from the previous month.