February 11th, 2012 | 
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This comes as the five polytechnics in Singapore as well as the Institute of Technical Education, ITE announced on Friday fee hikes for the academic year, AY 2012, which starts in April.
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This is the third consecutive year the institutions are raising their fees.
Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic will implement a modest fee increase for Singaporean students for AY 2012.
The Purchasing Managers' Index, PMI for January stood at 48.7 points, a 0.8 point dip from the previous month.
A reading below 50 indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally contracting.
The contraction in overall PMI was mainly attributed to a further slowdown in new orders and production output.
Data released by the Department of Statistics, DOS on Wednesday showed that the consumer price index, CPI rose 5.5 per cent on-year last month, down from 5.7 per cent in November.
But economists say this sudden uptick is a temporary lift and they're forecasting further downside risks for exports going forward.
Exports received a shot in the arm in December, following strong performance from the non-electronic sector.
Pharmaceuticals, for instance, saw a 39 per cent increase on-year.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy contracted by 4.9 percent, following the 1.5 per cent gain in the previous quarter.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said the pace of growth of the Singapore economy eased in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Employers expect it to be implemented smoothly, after four years of work by the tripartite partners of government, unions and employers to prepare workers and employers.
The Act provides opportunities for workers who are willing and are able to continue working beyond retirement.
It is slightly below the forecast of around five per cent by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who announced the growth figures in his 2012 New Year message on Saturday, described the pace of growth for the year as "steady".
The CPF Board said in a statement that the change will take effect from 1 July 2012.
A wrap fee – also known as an ongoing fee – is a regular charge paid to financial advisers for providing bundled investment services such as advisory, brokerage or administrative services.
Not including biomedical output, manufacturing output fell 13.5 per cent last month.
Data from the Economic Development Board, EDB showed that the biggest production decline came from the electronics sector. The electronics cluster posted a 30.1 per cent on-year drop in output due to weak demand for semiconductors and data storage, which fell 31.1 per cent and 55.2 per cent respectively.