The nation’s working population in the 45 to 64 age group was 4.32 million last year, which translates into a labor force participation rate of 62.42 percent, a Ministry of Labor report on the employment situation among older workers released on Monday said.
The labor force participation rate among older workers was 0.53 percent higher last year compared with 2015, mainly because of an increase in women’s education levels and interest in employment, the annual report said.
Last year, 49.88 percent of women aged 45 to 64 participated in the nation’s workforce, up from 42.68 percent in 2006, it said.
However, although the labor force participation rate of Taiwanese women in this age group has risen every year, it is still lower than in South Korea, Japan and the US, it said.
The report showed that 2.445 million (57.84 percent) of older workers were employed in the service sector, 1.473 million (34.84 percent) in the industrial sector and 309,000 (7.32 percent) in the agricultural sector.
Older workers’ incomes averaged NT$43,018, an increase of NT$274 from the previous year, the report said.
While monthly salaries of fulltime workers averaged NT$43,946, part-time workers only made an average of NT$17,507 per month, it said.
The unemployment rate among older workers rose by 0.16 percentage points year-on-year to 2.15 percent last year, the report said.
Of those who lost their jobs, 48.37 percent said this was due to their employer downsizing or closing down, it said.
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