The average monthly regular wages was NT$40,679 in the first quarter, up 2.71 percent from a year earlier, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The annual increase was the highest expansion since 2001, reflecting an improving domestic economy and pay raises by employers, the agency said.
After adjustments for consumer inflation, which increased 1.55 percent annually in the first quarter, the real average monthly regular wage was NT$38,132, an increase of 1.14 percent year-on-year, but still lower than NT$38,188 in 2001.
First-quarter average regular wage data were based on the agency’s survey of employees in the industrial and service sectors.
A more detailed report, expected to be unveiled by the end of this month, would show if an improving economy or pay raises carry more weight in the increase in regular wages, the DGBAS said.
The total number of employees as of March 31 was 7.63 million, up 116,542 or 1.55 percent from a year earlier, while the average number of working hours was 183.1, down two hours from a year ago, it said.
The Ministry of Finance yesterday released its latest tax revenue data, which showed revenue increased by NT$25.5 billion (US$853.64 million), to NT$475.7 billion, in the first four months of the year, an increase of 5.7 percent from a year earlier.
That surpassed its budget target by 2.2 percent, it said.
The ministry attributed the growth to revenue increases of NT$11.2 billion in business taxes, NT$7.5 billion in securities transaction taxes and NT$6.8 billion in tobacco and alcohol taxes over the same period last year, which helped offset the drop in revenue from inheritance and gift taxes and tobacco health and welfare surcharges, it said.
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