The nation's exports fell for a sixth straight month in August, putting more jobs at risk and exacerbating the economy's worst slump in a quarter century.
Overseas sales fell 25.8 percent from a year earlier to US$9.5 billion after dropping a record 28 percent in July, the Ministry of Finance said. Imports slid 36.5 percent to US$7.7 billion. That left a US$1.8 billion trade surplus, compared with a US$639 million surplus a year earlier.
The decline in exports, which account for about half of the nation's economy, is deepening the recession as shrinking sales and profits force companies to cut production and fire workers.
The economy shrank 2.4 percent in the second quarter from a year ago, the first contraction since 1975.
"Unemployment may edge up if exports continue to plunge," said Huang Yi-ping, an economist at Salomon Smith Barney. "The government probably has to try more ways to stimulate the economy."
The jobless rate climbed to 4.7 percent in July, the seventh straight monthly record, as manufacturers shed workers and moved production to China to cut costs.
The government, which expects the economy to shrink 2.5 percent this quarter, is relying on a pickup in the US economy to revive growth at the end of the year. The government expects the economy to shrink 0.4 percent in 2001, the first annual decline since it began compiling records half a century ago.
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