The number of people employed in the nation’s industrial and service sectors rose for the eighth consecutive month in January thanks to increased hiring amid easing COVID-19 concerns, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The number of employees rose by 15,000, or 0.18 percent, from December last year to about 8.17 million, data compiled by the DGBAS showed.
The number rose 21,000, or 0.26, percent from a year earlier, ending nine months of annual declines as the manufacturing and hospitality sectors announced new job openings, the data showed.
The number of jobs in the manufacturing, and retail and wholesale sectors rose by 6,000 from a month earlier, while the hotel, and food and beverage sectors posted an increase of 5,000.
The number of people employed in the industrial and service sectors has increased 109,000 since the government lifted COVID-19 restrictions on business activity in June last year, the data showed.
Despite the monthly increase in January, the number of employees in the two major sectors has not returned to pre-pandemic levels in late 2019, when the figure was about 6,000 higher, DGBAS Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said.
The pandemic remains a concern for some local industries, while others have witnessed a recovery in employment, Chen said.
The recovery in the manufacturing sector has been uneven, with the number of people employed by electronics suppliers and metal product suppliers rising 8,000 and 4,000 respectively from pre-pandemic levels, he said.
The number of people working in the textile and garment industries fell by 9,000 and 4,000 respectively over the period, he added.
Due to a rise in housing transactions in the second half of last year, the number of people working in the construction industry and the real-estate sector rose by 6,000 and 3,000 respectively from pre-pandemic levels, Chen said.
However, the number of employees in the hospitality, tourism and airline industries fell 20,000, 10,000 and 1,000 respectively over the period, DGBAS data showed.
Recovery in those industries would depend on the lifting of border controls, Chen said.
The number of people employed in the medical and healthcare industry as well as the social welfare sector has risen 18,000 from the pre-pandemic era, he said.
The rise largely reflects increased demand for medical care for COVID-19 patients and Taiwan’s aging population, he added.
Separately, the DGBAS said the average monthly regular wage in the industrial and service sectors in January rose 2.07 percent from a year earlier to NT$43,125.
Average monthly earnings, which comprise regular wages and non-regular wages such as overtime pay and bonuses, fell 23.92 percent from a year earlier to NT$75,145 due to a high comparison base a year earlier, when employees received year-end bonuses before the Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in January.
After adjusting for inflation, the average regular wage rose 2.25 percent from a year earlier, while average monthly earnings fell 23.79 percent, the DGBAS said.
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