Singapore's economy grew at a rate of 7.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2007, official figures show.

The year-on -year figure, which topped analysts' expectations, was helped by an ongoing construction and financial services sector boom.

The manufacturing sector, however, continued to experience a sharp slowdown in growth.

Analysts had been expecting the economy to grow by about 6.1 per cent.

According to the figures, construction expanded by 9.7 per cent in the first three months of the year, its strongest growth rate in 9 years.

The financial services sector surged by 13 per cent, after an 11 per cent surge in the fourth quarter of 2006.

The strong performance was across all major financial segments, particularly in the capital and money markets.

The manufacturing sector grew by 4.3 per cent in the first quarter, down from 7.7 per cent in the previous three months.

Robert Prior-Wandesforde, an economist at HSBC Holdings Plc in Singapore, told Bloomberg.com: "The economy is showing an impressive ability to shake off a manufacturing and export downturn.

"It reflects the success in diversification away from the traditional base of production.''

Total employment, meanwhile, continued to grow strongly by 48,000 in the first quarter, only slightly lower than the 51,500 in the October-December quarter.

All major sectors added workers, led by services with gains of 33,400 workers.

Manufacturing and construction posted increases in employment of 9,500 and 5,000 respectively.

Singapore's economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.9 per cent in the last three months of 2006.

Looking ahead, the Singapore government expects the economy to grow by about 6 per cent for the whole of 2007.

The article Singapore economy records strong growth originally appeared on 999 Today