SINGAPORE - Fewer people were laid off last quarter and the unemployment rate here held steady, according to preliminary figures released by the Manpower Ministry on Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 2 per cent in June 2014. The rate for residents saw a slight improvement at 2.8 per cent. It was 2.9 per cent in March. The unemployment rate for citizens remained at 3 per cent.

The number of people in jobs grew by 22,000. This is lower than the growth of 28,300 in the preceding quarter and the 33,700 in the second quarter of last year.

Meanwhile, around 2,300 workers lost their jobs in the second quarter of this year, fewer than both the 3,080 workers laid off the year before as well as the 3,110 workers laid off in the first quarter of this year.