Overtime hours fell for the third consecutive month in January as the pace of local economic growth slowed, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said on Thursday last week.
DGBAS data showed that overtime hours averaged 7.6 hours per worker in January, down 6.17 percent from a year earlier and down 2.56 percent from the previous month.
The local manufacturing sector saw overtime hours fall for the fourth straight month in January, the DGBAS said, adding that average overtime pay also fell 1.18 percent from a year earlier to NT$1,752.
However, January’s average working hours totalled 182, up 1.85 percent from a year earlier, it said.
DGBAS Deputy Director Pan Ning-hsin (潘寧馨) said that demand for extra hours was affected, as the local economy slowed and production fell.
Meanwhile, the DGBAS has cut its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth for this year to 2.27 percent from 2.41 percent.
There are few signs that the slowing economy has affected the local job market in an intolerable manner, Pan said.
DGBAS data showed that the average regular wage for January rose 2.36 percent from a year earlier to NT$41,714, marking the 14th consecutive month of increases of more than 2 percent.
The average earned income, made up of regular wages and non-regular wages, such as overtime pay and bonuses, grew 58.05 percent from a year earlier to NT$94,152 due to year-end bonuses, the DGBAS said.
After inflationary adjustments, the real average regular wage rose 2.18 percent from a year earlier to NT$41,142, while the average earned income grew 57.77 percent to NT$92,861, it said.
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