The number of people employed in the industrial and service sectors increased a fractional 0.05 percent in December, while monthly take-home pay expanded 2.65 percent to NT$44,000 (US$1,579), the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
That represents a sixth straight month of gains and implies a full recovery from the negative impact of the level 3 COVID-19 alert introduced in May last year, DGBAS Census Department Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said.
However, real regular wages last year contracted 0.04 percent, the first retreat in five years, as faster inflation wiped out gains, Chen said.
Photo: Clare Cheng, Taipei Times
“Consumer activity gathered further momentum in December, allowing more people to be hired, compared with the middle of May when authorities introduced the level 3 alert to contain local infections,” Chen told a media briefing.
HIRING
For the whole of last year, the average number of people hired stood at 8.13 million, suggesting an annual increase of 0.21 percent from 2020, DGBAS data showed.
The manufacturing sector enlarged payroll by 0.58 percent, while the service sector cut staff by 0.05 percent, it said.
That is because electronics suppliers added 13,000 workers, while companies in the entertainment and recreational businesses let go of 11,000 staffers, the statistics agency’s monthly report found.
At the same time, average take-home pay increased 2.65 percent to NT$44,000, while total wages — including overtime compensation, performance-based commissions and bonuses — grew 3.16 percent to NT$54,989, the report said.
For the full last year, regular and total pay advanced 1.93 percent and 2.94 percent respectively, it said.
However, an increase of 1.96 percent in consumer prices last year more than erased the gain in take-home pay, while total compensation managed to eke out a gain, Chen said.
SHIPPERS
Workers at shipping companies enjoyed the biggest pay raise of 47.39 percent, reflecting the sharp hikes in freight rates at Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), DGBAS said.
Securities houses ranked second, with a pay increase of 21.65 percent, followed by alternative financial service providers with a 9.68 percent gain, it said.
Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, bus companies and beauty salons offered relatively low pay, it said.
Geographically, companies in Hsinchu City reported the highest annual compensations at NT$972,000 in 2020, followed by Taipei at NT$863,000 and Hsinchu County at NT$858,000, Chen said.
The national average was NT$685,000, suggesting a 1.1 percent increase from a year earlier, the official said.
The concentration of tech firms in Hsinchu and financial service providers in Taipei accounted for the different showings, Chen said.
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