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Taipei residents suffered more last year, statistics say

Statistics show that the suffering index of Taipei residents was higher last year than in 2002 because of the increased price of goods and services, the Taipei City Government's Department of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said yesterday.

The suffering index last year was 4.46 percent, rising more than 1.4 percent from 2002.

A department official, Yu Teng-i (游騰益), said the suffering index refers to the sum of the rising rate of prices and the rate of unemployment, which presents a country's economic condition.

If the rising rate of prices and the rate of unemployment, which are closely related to people's livelihood, both increase, it indicates that people are experiencing a difficult time economically, he said.

According to the department's statistics, consumers paid 0.14 percent more last year than in 2002 for the same goods and services.

However, the rate of employment did not rise, remaining at about 4.6 percent.

Therefore, Yu said, the higher suffering index was due to price rises.

The cause of rising prices might be related to keen competition in goods markets since Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2002.

However, Yu said, although unemployment did not increase on the surface, the structure of the unemployed population has changed.

The number of involuntary unemployed is rising and is the highest since 1998, Yu said. About 28,000 people in Taipei lost their jobs last year because of companies downsizing or closing, which was primarily influenced by the trend of industries moving to other countries.
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