It's been gloom and doom for Taiwan's economy this year, with record unemployment and tumbling exports sending the country into its deepest recession since the 1970s.
The economy contracted 4.2 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, with unemployment rising for 10 straight months to a peak of 5.33 in October, before falling slightly to 5.28 percent in November.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
The manufacturing sector laid off 158,000 workers in the year to September. The electric and electronics industry, in which 61,000 jobs were lost, was the hardest hit.
Dampened demand for high-tech goods in the US -- Taiwan's largest market for tech exports -- amid the global downturn forced companies to move more of their operations offshore, primarily to China.
The government expects exports to fall 16.7 percent and imports to decline 23 percent this year from last.
For the first 10 months of the year, Taiwan sold US$28.4 billion in goods and services to the US, compared with US$33.9 billion in the same period a year before.
Imports have also suffered, with industrial and agricultural raw-material imports falling 42.3 percent and imports of capital equipment declining 57.8 percent year-on-year in November. Falling domestic and overseas demand had already forced 14,500 factories to suspend operations by the end of November. The number of newly registered plants through November dropped 34.4 percent to 3,429 as investment plans were scaled back.
Projections for GDP growth this year have tumbled, with most think tanks forecasting a contraction. Only Academia Sinica predicts positive growth of 2.38 percent.
One of the lowest forecasts came from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, which estimated that GDP would contract 2.12 percent.
The Chunghwa Institute of Economic Research forecasts a contraction of 1.96 percent, and investment bank Goldman Sachs estimates a contraction of 1.8 percent.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
VIOLATION OF NORMS: China’s CCTV broadcast claimed that Beijing could use Interpol to issue arrest warrants, which the MAC slammed as an affront to order The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for attempts to intimidate Taiwanese through “transnational repression.” The council issued the remarks after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) yesterday during a news broadcast aired a video targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), threatening him with “cross-border repression” and saying: “Stop now, or you will be next,” in what Taipei officials said was an attempt to intimidate not only Shen, but also the broader Taiwanese public. The MAC in a statement condemned the threat, accusing Beijing of trying to instill fear and self-censorship among Taiwanese and
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