I experimented with Excel and the Claude plug-in to do rapid data storytelling. Here are my steps in processing the Ministry of Manpower’s preliminary Q3 Labour Market data from their site.
- Copy and paste data into Excel
- Use Claude to clean the data formatting.
- Prompt a very general prompt “Do data storytelling in new tab”
- I wanted to print the tables from Excel for social media, but it was difficult. So I got Claude to rework the output as a HTML file.
- Below is the HTML embed.
2026 is partial (Q1–Q3 only).
1. Baseline – In 2019, 10,690 employees were retrenched: the pre-COVID reference point.
2. Shock – 2020 brought 26,110 retrenchments, 2.4x the 2019 level (12.8 per 1,000 employees). The worst quarter was 2020 Q3 (9,120).
3. Recovery – By 2022 retrenchments fell to 6,440 (3.1 per 1,000), the lowest of the series.
4. Rebound – Retrenchments climbed back to 14,490 in 2025: +125% vs 2022 and +36% vs 2019.
5. Now – 2026 Q3 saw 4,800 retrenchments, +80% vs the 2019 quarterly average. 2026 Q1–Q3 is running +23% vs the same period of 2025.
So what: the post-COVID bounce-back has not returned retrenchments to pre-COVID levels, and 2026 is trending higher still.
| Metric | Value | How it’s calculated |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline year (input) | 2019 | Pre-COVID reference year |
| Baseline retrenchments | 10,690 | Annual retrenchments in the baseline year |
| Latest full year (input) | 2025 | Most recent year with all four quarters reported |
| Latest full-year retrenchments | 14,490 | Annual retrenchments in the latest full year |
| Peak year | 2020 | Year with the highest annual retrenchments |
| Peak retrenchments | 26,110 | Highest annual figure |
| Peak vs baseline (x) | 2.4x | Peak ÷ baseline |
| Peak rate per 1,000 employees | 12.8 | Rate in the peak year |
| Lowest year | 2022 | Year with the lowest annual retrenchments |
| Lowest retrenchments | 6,440 | Lowest annual figure |
| Lowest rate per 1,000 employees | 3.1 | Rate in the lowest year |
| Latest full year vs lowest year | +125.0% | Latest full year ÷ lowest year − 1 |
| Latest full year vs baseline | +35.5% | Latest full year ÷ baseline − 1 |
| Peak quarter | 2020 Q3 | Quarter with the highest retrenchments |
| Peak quarter retrenchments | 9,120 | Highest quarterly figure |
| Latest quarter reported | 2026 Q3 | Last quarter with data |
| Latest quarter retrenchments | 4,800 | Retrenchments in the latest quarter |
| Latest quarter vs baseline quarterly average | +79.6% | Latest quarter ÷ (baseline year ÷ 4) − 1 |
| 2026 Q1–Q3 vs 2025 Q1–Q3 | +22.7% | Year-to-date growth, same quarters |
Static snapshot of the “Story” tab (source: Clean Table tab). Re-export if the workbook data changes.