The unemployment rate last month rose from the month before as expected, with more first-time jobseekers — mainly school-leavers — unable to find work, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The unemployment rate — a key indicator of economic performance — climbed for the second consecutive month to 4.21 percent last month, from 4.12 percent in May, the DGBAS said in its monthly report.
“The jobless rate last month showed a seasonal effect,” DGBAS Deputy Director Chen Min (陳憫) told a press conference.
Chen said the data reflected historical trends with the graduation season, and an influx of first-time jobseekers, often pushing up the unemployment rate from May to August.
The latest data showed that 477,000 people were unemployed last month, an increase of 11,000 from the previous month, with the number of first-time jobseekers failing to get a job rising by 13,000.
However, Chen said the labor market outlook in near future remained stable, as the number of workers losing their jobs through business closures or downsizing fell 22,000 in the first half.
Cheng Cheng-mount (鄭貞茂), chief economist at Citigroup in Taipei, told the Taipei Times that he expects the labor market to remain steady in the second half.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate — a more accurate indicator of the long-term trend — which dropped 0.01 percentage points from a month ago to 4.24 percent, confirmed Cheng’s views.
On the working front, the number of those with jobs averaged 10.82 million in the first six months, up 1.63 percent from a year earlier, marking the lowest rise in three years, which indicated the conservative attitude of employers generating new positions, DGBAS said.
Henry Ho (何啟聖), public relations director of 1111 Job Bank (1111, 人力銀行), said in a note that a slowing supply of job openings could continue to drive up the number of first-time jobseekers failing to receive an employment offer over the next few months.
The DGBAS also unveiled the latest salary data yesterday which showed that the average national monthly salary in May was NT$37,419, up 1.83 percent from a year ago.
The average monthly salary was NT$37,262 in the January-to-May period, up 1.88 percent from a year earlier, DGBAS statistics showed.
However, when bonuses and other forms of compensation are included, the average monthly remuneration package was NT$50,050, which was a 0.71 percent markdown from a year earlier, reflecting the fact that employers were awarding lower year-end bonuses and other vocational rewards this year with the global economic slowdown impacting their business, the DGBAS said.
ELECTRONICS BOOST: A predicted surge in exports would likely be driven by ICT products, exports of which have soared 84.7 percent from a year earlier, DBS said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 4 percent from 3 percent, citing robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related exports and accelerated shipment activity, which are expected to offset potential headwinds from US tariffs. “Our GDP growth forecast for 2025 is revised up to 4 percent from 3 percent to reflect front-loaded exports and strong AI demand,” Singapore-based DBS senior economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) said in an online briefing. Taiwan’s second-quarter performance beat expectations, with GDP growth likely surpassing 5 percent, driven by a 34.1 percent year-on-year increase in exports, Ma said, citing government
‘REMARKABLE SHOWING’: The economy likely grew 5 percent in the first half of the year, although it would likely taper off significantly, TIER economist Gordon Sun said The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) yesterday raised Taiwan’s GDP growth forecast for this year to 3.02 percent, citing robust export-driven expansion in the first half that is likely to give way to a notable slowdown later in the year as the front-loading of global shipments fades. The revised projection marks an upward adjustment of 0.11 percentage points from April’s estimate, driven by a surge in exports and corporate inventory buildup ahead of possible US tariff hikes, TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy likely grew more than 5 percent in the first six months
SMART MANUFACTURING: The company aims to have its production close to the market end, but attracting investment is still a challenge, the firm’s president said Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said its long-term global production plan would stay unchanged amid geopolitical and tariff policy uncertainties, citing its diversified global deployment. With operations in Taiwan, Thailand, China, India, Europe and the US, Delta follows a “produce at the market end” strategy and bases its production on customer demand, with major site plans unchanged, Delta president Simon Chang (張訓海) said on the sidelines of a company event yesterday. Thailand would remain Delta’s second headquarters, as stated in its first-quarter earnings conference, with its plant there adopting a full smart manufacturing system, Chang said. Thailand is the firm’s second-largest overseas
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market value closed above US$1 trillion for the first time in Taipei last week, with a raised sales forecast driven by robust artificial intelligence (AI) demand. TSMC saw its Taiwanese shares climb to a record high on Friday, a near 50 percent rise from an April low. That has made it the first Asian stock worth more than US$1 trillion, since PetroChina Co (中國石油天然氣) briefly reached the milestone in 2007. As investors turned calm after their aggressive buying on Friday, amid optimism over the chipmaker’s business outlook, TSMC lost 0.43 percent to close at NT$1,150
RSS