The nation's jobless rate rose to yet another high of 5.17 percent last month, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said yesterday.
The unemployment rate was up from 4.92 percent in July. According to the nation's official number cruncher 512,000 people were out of work last month, which was 27,000 more than the month before.
Still, while the rising unemployment figures paint a bleak picture of economic troubles, the numbers may actually understate the extent of the suffering.
As job opportunities dwindle, many people have turned to part-time jobs as an alternative to the unemployment line.
But according to the Directorate General, part-time employees -- who do not receive the same benefits as regular full-time employees -- are not counted as unemployed workers.
"I lost my job but I still have to pay rent and other living expenses," Jason Liu, 28, said yesterday.
"Therefore, I decided to temporarily take a part-time job as a phone interviewer."
Liu was laid off from the Internet firm PC Home Online late last month after working there as an editor for three years.
With good jobs few and far between, Liu chose to take the part-time gig at the marketing research firm.
"After sending out my resume, I waited at home for a month and only got one interview," Liu said.
Fenny Cheng (
Although her part-time job is providing some income, she receives no benefits.
"The company calculates my salary by the hour, without insurance coverage and other benefits -- such as bonuses, paid vacations and travel expenses," Cheng said.
Meanwhile, as unexperienced college students find it difficult to land their first jobs, one college graduate decided not to join the market at all, instead opting to continue his studies.
"I understand it's hard for students to get offers at this moment, so maybe this is a good time to continue to study," said Cheng Yi-chung (
For those searching for a part-time job, the list of openings is not very extensive, with the most popular part-time offers being market research interviewers, flyer distributors, teaching assistants and layout designers, said Wendy Huang (洪櫻瑜), marketing manager of the Internet job bank, 104.com.
The drop in August jobless numbers mainly reflects a month-on-month increase of 13,000 people who lost their jobs due to business closures or cutbacks.
There were also 10,000 first-time job seekers who failed to find work.
More than 3,700 Taiwanese factories closed in the eight months to August -- up 31 percent from last year -- as the economy declined sharply, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Companies are shedding workers as overseas demand for computers and mobile phones drops and lower costs in China draw manufacturers away.
The economy shrank 2.4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US are likely to delay a recovery.
"Rising unemployment is going to hurt consumers' confidence to spend," said Lucas Lee, an economist at Barits Investment Services Corp.
"The typhoon last week and the attack in the US should push up the jobless rate further as economic growth slows."
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