The number of people employed in the nation’s industrial and service sectors increased in October as business activity picked up amid eased concerns over COVID-19, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) has said.
With domestic consumption on the rise, the hospitality and food and beverage industry, which had been hit hard by virus fears, saw the number of employees rise near the level before a local COVID-19 outbreak was detected in May, the agency said.
The number of people employed in the industrial and service sectors totaled about 8.15 million at the end of October, up 31,000, or 0.38 percent, from the previous month.
Photo: CNA
It was the fourth consecutive month of increase in employment, it said.
The number of people working in the hospitality and food and beverage industry rose 11,000 from a month earlier, while the number of employees in the support service industry, which largely comprises travel agencies, as well as the entertainment, and arts and leisure industries, rose 5,000 each, the data showed.
Employment figures have improved since the government downgraded a national COVID-19 alert level, easing restrictions on people’s movement, DGBAS Census Department Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said.
The Double Ten National Day holiday and government-issued NT$5,000 Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers also boosted domestic consumption, which caused businesses to hire more workers, she said.
The number of employees in the hospitality and food and beverage industry as of the end of October was only 3,000 fewer than the figure in April, as consumers have become more willing to spend, Chen said.
The number of people employed in the hospitality and food and beverage industry grew by about 10,000 per month in the past few months, she said.
However, the number of employees in the entertainment, and arts and leisure industries was still 16,000 fewer than the number in April, as restrictions on KTV parlors were not eased until October, Chen said.
Relaxing COVID-19 concerns also helped wages to grow, she said.
In October, the average monthly regular wage in the industrial and service sectors was NT$43,593, up NT$214, or 0.49 percent, from a month earlier, the DGBAS said.
The October figure was also up 2.21 percent from a year earlier, the agency added.
Average monthly earnings, which comprise regular wages and non-regular wages, such as overtime pay and bonuses, was NT$50,042, down 3.9 percent from a month earlier, but up 4.61 percent from a year earlier.
In the first 10 months of this year, the average regular wage and average monthly earnings rose 1.82 percent and 2.91 percent from the previous year respectively, to NT$43,088 and NT$56,387.
However, after inflationary adjustments, the average regular wage and average monthly earnings rose only 0.01 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.
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