With more first-time jobseekers entering the market during graduation season, the unemployment rate last month rose slightly from a month earlier to 3.87 percent, according to government data released yesterday.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said the unemployment rate rose 0.06 percent from a month earlier, but after seasonal adjustments it remained unchanged at 3.69 percent.
The number of those without a job was 461,000, up 8,000 or 1.84 percent from a month earlier, while the number of people employed rose 16,000 or 0.14 percent to 11.46 million, the DGBAS said.
The participation rate stood at 59.19 percent, up 0.10 percentage points from a month earlier, the DGBAS added.
The DGBAS said the number of first-time jobseekers rose 5,000 from a month earlier, while the number of those who quit to find another job also rose 2,000.
DGBAS Census Department Deputy Director Pan Ning-hsin (潘寧馨) told a news conference in Taipei that an increase in the unemployment rate during the graduation season was no surprise, predicting that the figure would start to fall this month.
Commenting on the ongoing trade friction between the US and China, Pan said the local job market has not felt any pinch from global trade conditions, but that the DGBAS would keep a close eye on possible impacts on local manufacturers, which serve as the nation’s major employers.
In terms of age groups, the unemployment rate among people aged 15 to 19 was 8.80 percent last month, up from 8.66 percent in July, while in the 20 to 24 age group it hit 12.78 percent, up from 12.42 percent, the DGBAS said.
The jobless rate in the 25 to 29 age group hit 6.44 percent last month, up from 6.39 percent in July, it added.
Among people holding a university degree, the jobless rate was 5.40 percent, the highest among all groups, while the unemployment rate among people holding a high-school diploma and those holding a graduate-school degree stood at 3.69 percent and 3.08 percent respectively, the DGBAS said.
In the first eight months of this year, the unemployment rate stood at 3.70 percent, down 0.08 percentage points from a year earlier, while the labor participation rate rose 0.16 percentage points to 58.95 percent, the DGBAS said.
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