SINGAPORE'S unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 1.6 per cent in the fourth quarter, which was the lowest in a decade, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Manpower. This was helped by job gains in the services and construction sectors.

Employment rose by 64,200 new jobs in the three months to the end of December, the ministry said on Thursday, bringing jobs creation for the whole year to 236,600.

Singapore's export-driven economy unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter - the first time since 2003 - as manufacturing weakened on the back of slowing economic growth in the United States, the city-state's top export market by country, preliminary estimates from the government showed.

The Singapore government expects economic growth to slow to between 4.5 and 6.5 per cent this year from last year's estimated 7.5 per cent.

Singapore reports unemployment on a quarterly basis. -- REUTERS