The nation's unemployment rate dropped to 3.83 percent last month from 3.94 percent in March due to decreases of first-time and seasonal job seekers, the government's statistics bureau said yesterday.
However, last month's figure was up from 3.78 percent in the same month a year earlier, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, last month's unemployment rate came in at 3.96 percent, up from 3.94 percent in the previous month and up from 3.92 percent a year earlier, the DGBAS said in a statement.
"The number shows a slowdown in the rate of new-job creation," said Cheng Cheng-mount (
Rising unemployment may dent consumer spending, adding an extra curb on growth as exports slow.
Last month, 408,000 of Taiwan's 10.65 million labor force were unemployed, a fall of 12,000 from 420,000 in March, the DGBAS added.
The number of first-time job seekers who failed to land a job decreased by 5,000 from March. The number of people quitting their jobs fell by 2,000 from March, and those who lost seasonal jobs also fell by 2,000, DGBAS's tallies showed.
Unemployment for the first four months of the year averaged 3.83 percent, marking a six-year low for the given period. It came in at 3.84 percent during the January-April 2006 period.
The eligible workforce fell 0.1 percent month-on-month in April but added 2.01 percent year-on-year to 10.65 million.
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