The Council of Labor Affairs yesterday said a record number of people received unemployment benefits last month, with payouts reaching NT$2 billion (US$59 million).
The council approved 116,633 applicants for unemployment subsidies last month.
The number of people on welfare and the total amount of unemployment subsidies are at their highest levels since the government launched the benefits in 1999, Council of Labor Affairs Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said.
The demand for jobless claims started to spike in the fourth quarter of last year and the trend continued into this year,” a Bureau of Labour Insurance spokeswoman said.
The number of new claimants who have lost their jobs has exceeded 30,000 per month since last December, while the country’s jobless rate soared to a 31-year high of 5.31 percent in January, the council said.
Wang said the period of eligibility for unemployment benefits had been extended from six months to nine months for the middle-aged and elderly, as well as for handicapped workers.
When asked whether this would be extended to all those who are involuntarily unemployed, Wang said that the unemployment cycle was 26.1 weeks and the council would monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, Wang said the council had sufficient funds to finance the subsidies as the Unemployment Insurance Fund contains NT$105 billion, with an additional projected annual infusion of NT$20 billion.
In response, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators called for the government to extend unemployment subsidies to one year.
“President Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] promised an amendment to the Employment Insurance Act [就業保險法] during his campaign to extend unemployment subsidies from six months to one year and he should not break that promise,” DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) told a press conference yesterday.
DPP Legislator Chen Chieh-ju (陳節如) said the proposed extension from six months to nine months was unsatisfactory.
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS