The number of people on unemployment benefits has not fallen significantly, but the number of new applicants has decreased, Council of Labor Affairs statistics show, suggesting a gradual recovery in the market.
Last month 87,000 workers applied for unemployment benefits, with payouts reaching NT$1.73 billion (US$52 million).
Although the number of people receiving unemployment benefits was level with August, only 11,181 applicants last month were new claimants who had recently been laid off. This was 2,000 people fewer than August, when 13,669 people filed for unemployment benefits.
“The number of new claimants is a good indicator of the job market,” said Chen I-min (陳益民), head of the Bureau of Labor Insurance.
The country’s jobless rate reached a 31-year high of 5.31 percent in January.
That number fell to little more than 11,000 people last month. In March, the number of new claimants fell from 35,000 in February to 28,000.
It decreased by another 7,000 in April to 21,000.
This shows that the unemployment situation is gradually coming under control, Chen said.
Spurred by the global economic downturn, the number of people receiving jobless benefits started to climb at the end of last year. In September last year, about 29,000 people were receiving benefits, but by December, 67,000 people were getting them.
As of February, the number had soared to more than 110,000 people, with payouts reaching NT$2 billion. The number peaked again at 124,000 in March.
Meanwhile, the council reminded private employers yesterday that they should not deduct a day’s wages from employees’ salaries if they cannot make it to work because of poor weather conditions.
Some parts of southern and eastern Taiwan declared a typhoon day yesterday.
The council reiterated that if the affected area covers where an employee resides, works or must pass through on the way to work, then the employee should not be punished in any way for not showing up at work.
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