Singapore
And the costs could keep going up this year, researchers from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) economics division have now said.
The trend was felt in services industries - rather than in manufacturing - as productivity was higher in Singapore's external-facing sectors, according to official reports on Friday.
Overall unit labour costs here inched up by 0.4 per cent last year, lifted by a 1.7 per cent rise in services, despite a 3.5 per cent drop in factories' manpower expenses. This...