On Dec. 27, the National Central University announced that the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for December 2016 stood at 77.22 points, the lowest it has been since October 2013, falling 0.49 percent since the previous month.
Confidence in the outlook of stock investments and domestic economic outlook were the only two of the six sub-indices to increase, with four sub-indices falling, including price levels for goods, household income, durable goods and the labor market.
In terms of absolute levels, the only one of the six sub-indices to indicate optimism was that for confidence in the labor market, with consumers turning pessimistic in the remaining five sub-indices.
Photo: CNA
照片:中央社
The December 2016 CCI survey was conducted between Dec. 19 and 21, 2016, with a sample group of 2,415 respondents above 20 years old in Taiwan, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percent at a 95 percent level of confidence.
(Translated by Paul Cooper)
中央大學十二月二十七日公布二○一六年十二月消費者信心指數為七十七。二二點,創二○一三年十月以來新低,較上月減零。四九點。
六項分項指標中,僅投資股票時機以及國內經濟景氣兩項上升,至於下降的指標有四項,包含物價水準、家庭經濟狀況、耐久性財貨時機及就業機會。
從絕對水準來看,六項指標中只有就業機會呈現偏向樂觀,其餘五項則偏向悲觀。
二○一六年十二月消費者信心指數調查期間二○一六年十二月十九日至二十一日,共訪問兩千四百一十五位台灣二十歲以上民眾,在百分之九十五的信心水準下誤差範圍為正負兩。零個百分點。
(中央社)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
A: What’s even more horrible is that the five suspects who purposely supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry were all his “friends.” B: Who exactly are the five suspects? A: They include Matthew’s two doctors, a broker, a drug dealer, and even his live-in assistant. B: Those scumbags should go to jail. A: Yeah, one of the doctors may be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison. A: 更可怕的是,提供男星馬修派瑞「K他命」的5人全是他的「朋友」。 B: 嫌犯是誰啊? A: 其中包括他的2位醫生、1位仲介、1位毒販、甚至他的同居助理! B: 那些人渣真該去坐牢。 A: 對啊,其中1位醫生可能面臨120年徒刑。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
On blazing hot summer days, fresh ingredients and cool refreshments straight from a refrigerator feel like nothing short of a miracle. However, chilled foods didn’t begin with modern refrigerators. In fact, the origin of refrigeration precedes the invention of this now-indispensable appliance by centuries. Initially, the quest for refrigeration was motivated more by the desire to cool beverages than to preserve food. The ancient Greeks and Romans, for instance, used snow stored in insulated pits to chill wine. Around the fourth century BC, the Persians made a significant stride in refrigeration techniques when they devised the yakhchal. Fashioned from