The average monthly regular wage in January was NT$43,125 (US$1,527), a 2.07 percent increase from the same month last year and up 0.61 percent from December last year, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
Including bonuses and other compensation, the overall average monthly wage fell 23.92 percent year-on-year, but increased 40.41 percent month-on-month to NT$75,145, as many employers offered bonuses before the Lunar New Year holiday, which was in February this year, but in January last year, the agency said in a report.
After adjustments for consumer inflation, which decreased 0.16 percent annually in January, the real average wage was NT$41,828 per month, an increase of 2.25 percent year-on-year, while the overall average wage, including bonuses and compensation, over the period dropped 23.79 percent to NT$72,886 per month, the DGBAS said.
Photo: CNA
The latest wage data were based on the agency’s survey of employees in the industrial and service sectors.
People working in the agricultural sector, at government agencies, schools or research institutes, and religious or occupational groups were not included in the survey.
The agency also published updated labor figures, showing that the total number of employees as of Jan. 31 was 8.168 million, up 0.26 percent year-on-year, the first annual increase in 10 months, and 0.18 percent month-on-month.
The average number of monthly working hours was 165.1 as of Jan. 31, up 19.3 hours from a year earlier, but down 17.7 hours from the previous month, the agency said.
Separately, the government last month collected NT$78.8 billion in tax revenue, up 2.4 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
In the first two months, cumulative tax revenue increased 14.8 percent from a year earlier to NT$266.3 billion, the highest for the two-month period on record, as increases in revenues from securities transactions, and business and corporate income taxes were offset by decreases in revenues from individual income tax, the ministry said.
The biggest increase was in securities transaction tax revenue, which increased 122.2 percent year-on-year to NT$34 billion in the first two months, as local equity markets’ average daily turnover reached a record NT$416.9 billion, the ministry said.
The January-to-February tax revenue figure accounted for 10.9 percent of the government’s target for the first two months of this year, the ministry said.
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