Taiwan's jobless rate hit a record high of 5.26 percent last month as factories closed and companies downsized amid a global slowdown, the government said yesterday.
The figure was the 12th straight monthly rise, topping the August rate of 5.17 percent, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.
Traditionally, the jobless rate is lower in September than in August because students go back to school and create job openings. But workers displaced by plant closures and corporate downsizing have kept the jobless ranks crowded, said Chen Jin-cherng (
For the full year, Taiwan's jobless rate is expected to hit 4.5 percent, an annual record high, Chen said. Last year's jobless rate of 2.99 percent is the current record. Chen said that the jobless rate will likely average 5 percent in the fourth quarter and probably won't return to below 3 percent, especially when Taiwan enters the WTO early next year.
Last month, the ranks of the unemployed rose to 519,000 from 304,000 in the same month last year. Of those people, 245,000 lost their jobs because of factory closures or layoffs, a 6.1 percent increase from August.
Chen said the jobless situation has spread to the high technology and service sectors as well, unlike last year when joblessness affected just the traditional manufacturing sectors.
In the northern city of Hsinchu -- home to several big technology companies -- last month's jobless rate was 5.69 percent, higher than the nationwide rate, Chen said.
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