Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month shrank a fractional 0.03 percentage points to 3.61 percent, as more people found jobs amid continued recovery in the hospitality and tourism sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The latest data suggested steady improvement in the local job market and the unemployment rate might drop further this month and ahead of the Lunar New Year next month, in the absence of major external shocks, DGBAS Census Department Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said.
“Unemployment last month declined to a 10-month low after more people landed positions, especially first-time jobseekers,” Chen said.
Photo: CNA
The unemployment rate after seasonal adjustments stayed unchanged at 3.64 percent, affirming a stable job market, the official said.
The number of unemployed people totaled 428,000, a retreat of 3,000 from October after the overall number of first-time jobseekers dropped by 2,000, the agency’s monthly survey showed.
The improvement came as domestic service providers regained business momentum, but some readings declined from a year earlier, Chen said.
The number of people who work fewer than 35 hours a week fell 13,000 from a month earlier to 209,000, the DGBAS said.
Disappointing export orders have not yet translated to evident job losses, as the number of people who lost jobs to business downsizing and closures held steady last month and declined in the previous four months, Chen said.
The unemployment period averaged 21.7 weeks, increasing by 0.2 weeks from October, the agency said, adding that the period was significantly longer among first-time jobseekers at 23.8 weeks.
By education breakdown, people with college degrees had the highest unemployment rate at 5.16 percent, followed by people with high-school education at 3.23 percent, people with graduate diplomas at 2.84 percent and people with junior-high school education at 2.43 percent, the DGBAS said.
People aged 20 to 24 had the highest unemployment rate of 12.07 percent, followed by the 15-to-19 age bracket at 8.68 percent, the 25-to-29 age group at 6.04 percent and the 30-to-34 age bracket at 3.8 percent, the agency said.
People aged 45 to 64 had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.26 percent.
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