January joblessness at 14-year low in Taiwan

2015-03-02

Taiwan’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.71 percent in January, its lowest level in 14 years and down 0.31 of a percentage point from the year before, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Feb. 26.

This was the best result for the period since 2001, with the number of jobless falling to 430,000, down 32,000 or 6.93 percent from the year before. Employment reached 11.16 million, up 123,000 or 1.11 percent over the same period, while the average time spent job-seeking was 26.6 weeks.

“The encouraging results are a strong indicator that Taiwan’s economy remains on a steady growth track,” said Lo Yi-ling, deputy director of the DGBAS Department of Census. “The additional openings typically seen before the Lunar New Year also helped.”

But the official said it remains to be seen whether the trend will continue as there is a tendency to change jobs in the months following the holidays.

According to the national development plan greenlighted by the Cabinet in December 2014, Taiwan’s unemployment rate is expected to hover between 3.8 percent and 3.9 percent for 2015.

This positive labor market sentiment is reflected in the average wages of the industrial and services sectors, which picked up 0.28 percent in the month to NT$46,461 (US$1,473).

Average wages for 2014 were the highest on record at NT$47,300, up 3.58 percent from 2013, while manufacturing production rose 6.63 percent. After taking inflation into account, real wages gained 2.36 percent, the highest growth in four years.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=227756&CtNode=413)