Jobs lost doubled in Singapore..though retrenchments have eased.

The number of jobs lost in Singapore doubled to 12,400 in the second quarter of this year, according to the Manpower Ministry’s (MOM) preliminary estimates on Friday. This is the first time that employment has contracted for two consecutive quarters since the 2003 economic downturn. Manufacturing, again, bore the brunt of job losses.Construction and services sectors increased their workforce, but the gains were lower than in previous quarters. On the other hand, retrenchments appeared to have eased. MOM said 4,800 workers were laid off and 700 contracts were terminated prematurely in the second quarter. This means 5,500 workers were made redundant during that period — half the number compared to the previous quarter.