Average monthly wages in June advanced 2.47 percent year-on-year to NT$45,429 (US$1,430), although the figure represented a mild 0.14 percent retreat from the level in May, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said yesterday.
Including performance-based commissions, overtime and bonuses, total wages grew 2 percent year-on-year to NT$53,900, but softened 1.55 percent month-on-month, the agency said.
People working at airline companies enjoyed the highest monthly wages at NT$81,664 on average, while those at financial and insurance companies were in second place with NT$66,587, followed by employees of electricity and gas suppliers at NT$65,775, the agency’s data showed.
Photo: CNA
By contrast, people working at hair salons and restaurants had the lowest monthly wages of NT$30,977 and NT$33,865 on average respectively, the data showed.
In the first six months, average monthly wages increased 2.47 percent year-on-year to NT$45,357, while overall compensation picked up 1.57 percent to NT$62,008, the agency said.
Adjusted for inflation, average monthly wages in the first six months grew 0.14 percent year-on-year, but total wages declined 0.73 percent, the first contraction for the period in seven years, Census Department Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said.
The agency yesterday also released the employment data for workers in the industrial and service sectors, showing their numbers had dropped 3,000 in June to 8,164,000, as local manufacturers shed headcount to cope with a business slowdown.
Chen said the local job market remained stable, but firms in the manufacturing segment shrank their payroll more evidently by 5,000 to digest a continued inventory glut.
Major Taiwanese technology firms have offered conservative business outlooks for the current quarter, saying that their global clients were standing by a cautious inventory strategy at odds with the advent of a high season for technology products. Sticky global inflation and interest rate hikes have also weighed on demand for nonessential goods and services, Chen said.
The number of hours of overtime worked fell 5.62 percent to 8.4 hours per person in June, as firms looked to control costs, the agency said.
In the first six months, the number of workers in the industrial and service sectors increased by 17,000 to 8,157,000 from a year earlier, with accommodation and restaurant operators increasing headcounts by 8,000, entertainment and leisure businesses adding 7,000 and construction companies adding 4,000, the agency said.
Manufacturing jobs were down by 12,000 as compared with a year earlier, it added.
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