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.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
READY TO BUY: Shortly after Nvidia announced the approval, Chinese firms scrambled to order the H20 GPUs, which the company must send to the US government for approval Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) late on Monday said the technology giant has won approval from US President Donald Trump’s administration to sell its advanced H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) used to develop artificial intelligence (AI) to China. The news came in a company blog post late on Monday and Huang also spoke about the coup on China’s state-run China Global Television Network in remarks shown on X. “The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the post said. “Today, I’m announcing that the US government has approved for us
The National Stabilization Fund (NSF, 國安基金) is to continue supporting local shares, as uncertainties in international politics and the economy could affect Taiwanese industries’ global deployment and corporate profits, as well as affect stock movement and investor confidence, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement yesterday. The NT$500 billion (US$17.1 billion) fund would remain active in the stock market as the US’ tariff measures have not yet been fully finalized, which would drive international capital flows and global supply chain restructuring, the ministry said after the a meeting of the fund’s steering committee. Along with ongoing geopolitical risks and an unfavorable
MATCHING NEIGHBORS: Taiwan lacks leverage with the US and ‘we should not be optimistic until details are confirmed,’ the Third Wednesday Club’s Lin Por-fong said Taiwan must secure tariff terms from the US that are on par with those granted to key export rivals such as Japan and South Korea or risk ceding competitiveness in global markets, a leading industrialist said yesterday, as concerns mount over trade barriers and currency volatility. Lin Por-fong (林伯豐), chairman of Taiwan Glass Industry Corp (台灣玻璃) and head of the Third Wednesday Club (三三會) — an exclusive body for Taiwan’s top 100 business leaders — said that Taiwan cannot afford to be optimistic ahead of Washington’s release of “reciprocal” tariff rates. “Taiwan lacks bargaining leverage with the US and we should not
RSS