Turnover for the sector - which excludes wholesale and retail and hotels and restaurants - fell 1.3 per cent compared with the same period in 2007 and was down 4 per cent against the third quarter last year.

Insurance services had a dreadful quarter, with business receipts plunging 49 per cent in the three months to Dec 31 compared with the same period in 2007, according to the Department of Statistics figures out last Friday.

The financial services sector put up a poor showing as well, with receipts recording their first decline since the fourth quarter of 2006 - down 7.6 per cent for the three months to Dec 31 on lower revenue earned by stockbrokers and fund managers.

If financial and insurance services were stripped out, the Business Receipts Index for Services Industries - as the measure is called - rose by 4 per cent in the final quarter compared with the last three months of 2007.

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.