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Jobless rate falls to a six-month low, DGBAS says

Taiwan's unemployment rate fell to a six-month low last month, reflecting an improving job market amid an economic recovery, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

Last Month's jobless rate stood at 4.92 percent, down 0.13 percentage points from the previous month and 0.39 percent lower compared with a year ago, the DGBAS said.

The number of people out of work fell to 497,000 from 510,000 a month earlier. In particular, the number of unemployed people who lost their jobs because of business closures and job cuts was 199,000 last month, compared with 210,000 in September, the DGBAS said.

The lastest report also reflected a decline of 4,000 in first-time job seekers, the agency added.

"The economic outlook has improved and the jobs market is looking better," Chen Jin-cherng (陳金城), a DGBAS deputy director, told reporters at a briefing.

Chen said unemployment was likely to stay below 5.0 percent in 2004, a positive trend seen continuing from this year.

Falling unemployment may make people more inclined to shop in an economy where the government predicts consumer spending will rise 0.8 percent this year.

"Sales have been rebounding since SARS," said Rebecca Chang, the assistant operations manager of Flagship Fashion Trading Co, which last week opened the 12th outlet in its Mango chain of stores.

"We've had to hire more workers, not only because of this new store, but we have had more business in other stores as well," she said.

Overseas sales rose last month at their fastest pace in eight months after export orders climbed to a record in September, earlier reports showed. That's prompting companies to hire at a time when the government is spending a NT$20 billion (US$588 million) budget, approved during the nation's SARS outbreak, to create jobs.

Last month's unemployment rate was 4.77 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis, down 0.10 percentage points from the previous month and down 0.37 percentage points from last year.
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