A: What’s up? You look miserable.
B: According to information published by a job bank, last year’s average monthly wage in Taiwan was NT$37,213 (US$1,329) — a fall on the previous year’s figure.
A: Wow. This is the first instance of negative wage growth in five years.
Photio: Lin Ching-hua, Liberty Times 照片︰自由時報林菁樺
B: The real monthly wage was NT$41,422 last year — also a reduction on the year before.
A: 你怎麼啦？看起來愁眉苦臉的。
B: 人力銀行公布，上班族去年平均月薪為三萬七千兩百多台幣（大約一千三百多美元）——比前年還少耶。
A: 哇，五年來第一次負成長。
B: 實質經常性薪資為四萬一千四百多元——也比前年還少。
（Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Audio recordings for Speak Up! dialogues will be suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.
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