Singapore - Singapore's unemployment rate jumped to 3.2 per cent in March, up from 2.5 per cent in December, preliminary figures released Thursday by the Ministry of Manpower showed.

The city state battles its worst recession since independence from Malaysia in 1965.

About 95,600 Singaporeans were unemployed in March, a sharp increase from 71,800 in December.

From January to March this year 12,600 people lost their jobs, compared to 9,410 in the fourth quarter 2008 and 2,420 in the first quarter 2008, showing a rising trend in redundancies.

Most retrenched workers came from the manufacturing sector which laid off 9,000 people, mainly from the electronics industry, the ministry said.

Another 2,900 workers were laid off from services and 700 from construction.

The rising unemployment rate reflected the sharp deterioration in economic conditions, the ministry said.

Singapore has been hit hard by the global economic downturn.

The government expected the city state's economy, which highly depends on exports, to shrink between 6 and 9 per cent this year.

However, according to findings of a survey by the Singapore Economic Development Board, companies of the manufacturing sector seem to be more optimistic than three months ago.

A weighted 40 per cent of companies foresee worse business conditions over the next six months, compared to 63 per cent a quarter earlier, the board said Thursday.

Meanwhile, 7 per cent of firms even predicted an improvement in the business situation, while a weighted 53 per cent expected the situation to remain the same.

The survey was carried out from March to early April. Of 400 companies polled, 95 per cent responded.