The unemployment rate last month fell to 3.86 percent, a decline of 0.03 percentage points from March, with fewer people quitting while others lost their jobs to business downsizing and closures, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said yesterday.
The latest jobless data represented a 0.23 percentage point increase from a year earlier, suggesting that companies remained conservative about hiring amid a soft economy, the agency said.
“The monthly drop in the unemployment rate was the smallest in 15 years, indicating that economic weakness weighed on the job market,” deputy section head Chang Yun-yun (張雲澐) told a news conference.
The unemployment rate after seasonal adjustments was 3.97 percent, up from 3.92 percent in March, signaling that the nation’s job market is slowly deteriorating, the report said.
The number of unemployed people in the nation dropped to 451,000, a decline of 4,000 from March, the report said.
The drop was the result of the number of first-time job seekers and people who lost their jobs due to seasonal factors falling by 2,000, more than offsetting the 1,000 people who lost their jobs due to business closures and downsizing, the report said.
For the first four months of the year, unemployment rates averaged 3.89 percent, an increase for the first time in seven years, the agency said.
A stable job market is crucial for consumer spending and the overall economy, with a lack of external demand this year forecast to drag GDP growth.
The central bank cut interest rates three times over the past two quarters in the hope that lower borrowing costs would spur private investment and moderate hot money inflows.
More than 20 nations have adopted negative interest rates in an attempt to guide funds from savings to investment.
The unemployment rate was highest (11.78 percent) in the 15-to-24 age bracket and dropped to 4.08 percent for the 25-to-44 age bracket, while people aged 45 to 64 had a jobless rate of 2.08 percent, the report said.
Unemployment was highest among people with university degrees or higher at 4.7 percent, followed by individuals with college diplomas at 4.12 percent, the report said.
The unemployment rate for people with only a high-school education averaged 3.82 percent, while those with a lower level of education averaged 3.18 percent, the report said.
In a related development, average take-home pay stood totaled NT$39,208 per month in March, a 1.78 percent increase from a year earlier, the agency said in a separate report.
Average monthly wages, including bonuses and other compensation, totaled NT$43,880 in March, an increase of 2.01 percent from a year earlier, the report said.
In the first quarter of the year, take-home wages averaged NT$38,995 per month, with the figure rising to NT$59,580 after year-end bonuses, the report said, adding that the latter figure marked a 1.56 percent drop from a year earlier, as firms distributed smaller bonuses.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
Two of Taiwan’s international carriers, Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), have retained the five-star airline rating awarded by international airline review organization Skytrax. Starlux was awarded the distinction for a second consecutive year, while EVA Air received it for the 11th straight year, Skytrax said in statements released yesterday and on Thursday last week, respectively. The five-star rating is considered one of the airline industry's highest honors and is awarded following professional audits of airline product and frontline service standards, Skytrax said. The ratings are based on in-depth assessments using unified global quality standards rather than customer review scores
RSS