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Unemployment on the rise

The unemployment rate came in at 3.94 percent last month, up from 3.80 percent in January, largely on the termination of temporary worker contracts after the Lunar New Year holiday, the government said yesterday.

Last month's jobless rate was also up from 3.78 percent during the same month a year earlier, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, last month's unemployment rate came in at 3.95 percent, unchanged from the previous month but up from 3.88 percent a year earlier, it said.

Last month, 424,000 people were jobless, 13,000 higher from a month earlier.

In the first two months of the year, unemployment averaged 3.87 percent, up from 3.79 percent in the year-earlier period, it said.

Grand Hotel plan on hold

Minister of Transportation and Communications Tsau Duei (蔡堆) told the legislature yesterday that the Grand Hotel (圓山飯店) would not be incorporated before May 20 when the new administration takes office.

Tsai said that he had been a government official for 40 years and was aware of what a caretaker government can or cannot do.

The hotel's incorporation is part of its privatization plan, which, however, triggered a controversy as a transfer of power may alter its privatization policy and execution.

The minister, in addition, said that any personnel changes have been frozen before the presidential inauguration in May.

Rebar prices hit new high

Domestic rebar prices rose to a new high yesterday, with Feng Hsin Iron and Steel Co (豐興鋼鐵), one of the country's main rebar makers, raising its wholesale rebar price by NT$800 (US$26.50) per tonne to NT$28,300 per tonne.

The leading rebar maker also increased its wholesale price for H-shaped steel girders by NT$400 per tonne to NT$28,600 per tonne and increased its offer for steel scrap by NT$400 per tonne to NT$15,700 per tonne.

Rebar wholesalers said Feng Hsin's new rebar price was still below prices on the domestic market, which have already risen to between NT$2,8500 and NT$29,000 per tonne.

Feng Hsin said it made the adjustments to reflect its increased costs, pointing out that the Japanese scrap steel price has risen to US$530 per tonne, while the domestic steel billet price has jumped to NT$26,000 per tonne.

Toyota may build new plant

Japan's largest automaker Toyota Motor Corp, which has seen strong growth in recent years, is studying building a fifth engine factory in Japan, a company official said yesterday.

"It is one of our options," Toyota spokesman Hideaki Honma said.

He was referring to a weekend report by the Nikkei Shimbun that said Toyota is planning to build its fifth engine factory in Japan by around 2010 in Miyagi Prefecture.

"We are constantly examining what is best for production, but nothing concrete has been decided yet," Honma said.

The Nikkei said the plant would manufacture some 200,000 engines a year for Toyota subcompact cars -- a rapidly growing market both at home and abroad at a time of high oil prices.

The cost is estimated to be ¥20 billion to ¥30 billion (US$200 million to US$300 million), it said.

The plant would boost competitiveness as Toyota factories in northern Japan currently use engines shipped from the company's base in central Japan.

Toyota is widely expected to become the world's top-selling automaker this year, replacing General Motors, as the Japanese company benefits from interest in its eco-friendly cars.
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