Taiwan’s labor market remained resilient last month, despite the unemployment rate inching up for a second straight month to 3.35 percent, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The latest report indicated a slight rise of 0.01 percentage points from February, but was still the lowest for the same month in 25 years, affirming a stable job market, the agency said.
The seasonally adjusted figure was 3.36 percent for last month, also up 0.01 percentage points from the previous month, it said.
Photo: CNA
Typically, unemployment numbers fall for March, as the economy starts to gather momentum following the Lunar New Year holiday.
However, the post-holiday boost was muted this year, which Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲) attributed to extended job-switching activity.
A surge of workers, about 3,000 people, quit their jobs due to dissatisfaction, and many are still in transition, Tan told a news conference in Taipei.
“This year, the post-holiday job changes have dragged on longer than usual,” she said. “Some people who left their previous jobs have not yet landed new ones.”
In total, 403,000 people were unemployed last month, up 1,000 from the previous month, the DGBAS said.
Although the number of workers quitting rose, the number of first-time job seekers fell by about 2,000, suggesting that fresh entrants to the labor market are finding opportunities relatively quickly.
The youngest workers, as usual, faced the steepest challenges.
The unemployment rate for those aged 20 to 24 stood at a high of 11.35 percent, reflecting the difficulties that often accompany the early stages of a person’s career, the agency said.
People aged 15 to 19 posted an 8.32 percent unemployment rate, while those aged 25 to 29 had a jobless rate of 5.73 percent.
The rate dropped further to 3.43 percent for people in their early 30s, it said.
By education breakdown, university graduates had the highest unemployment rate at 4.52 percent, followed by high-school and vocational-school graduates at 3.13 percent, and those with postgraduate degrees at 2.87 percent, the agency said.
The average period of unemployment shortened slightly to 19.6 weeks, with first-time job seekers spending an average of 21.3 weeks before landing a job, the DGBAS said.
Long-term unemployment — defined as being out of work for more than a year — affected 43,000 people, a decrease from both the previous month and the same time last year, it said.
Looking ahead, uncertainty remains high, Tan said.
Any potential fallout for Taiwan’s workforce from US President Donald Trump’s tariff policy would likely start appearing in the second half of this year, following a 90-day delay on the US implementation of a 32 percent tariff on Taiwan, she said.
The US levy has not yet made a dent on Taiwan’s job market, she added.
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