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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》March’s jobless rate was 3.78％
PERKED UP Lunar New Year bonuses were raised slightly to about NT$62,000 based on a stable economic recovery, with take-home wages said to rise 1.88 percent this year
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.78 percent last month, from a revised 3.85 percent in February, as fewer people lost their jobs due to temporary or seasonal hiring, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics （DGBAS） said yesterday.
The modest, but stable economic recovery, allowed firms to slightly raise year-end bonuses to NT$62,675 for the Lunar New Year, equivalent to 1.58 times the monthly wage, the agency said.
The latest unemployment figure is the same as in January, indicating a stable job market amid a continued economic upturn, the statistics bureau said.
“It is normal for the unemployment tally to edge down in March when some people who quit jobs after the Lunar New Year find positions,” a DGBAS official said by telephone.
The jobless rate after seasonal adjustments gained mildly to 3.84 percent, as firms stayed cautious about hiring despite a brighter economic landscape, the official said, adding that new labor rules that require higher overtime pay and more leave appear to have had little effect so far.
The number of unemployed people stood at 445,000 last month, down 8,000 from one month earlier, the DGBAS report said.
The number of people who lost jobs to seasonal or temporary hiring fell by 3,000, while people who lost jobs to businesses downsizing and or closing dropped by 2,000, the report said.
Meanwhile, first-time job seekers decreased by 2,000.
The unemployment rate might hover at similar levels this month and climb again as the graduation season approaches, the agency said.
Unemployment is highest among people with a university education at 4.66 percent, followed by people with a college education at 4.07 percent and people with a high-school education at 3.97 percent.
The jobless reading is lowest at 2.94 percent among people who finished only junior-high school, the report said.
By demographic breakdown, people in the 15-to-24 age bracket had the highest unemployment rate at 12.01 percent, followed by the 25-to-29 group at 6.64 percent, the report said.
Firms distributed higher year-end bonuses between December last year and February this year, thanks to an improving economy, DGBAS Deputy Director Pan Ning-hsin （潘寧馨） said.
On average, year-end bonuses were higher than the 1.54 months for the same period last year and lower than the 1.69 months in 2015, Pan said.
Average wages including different benefits were NT$45,720 in February, significantly lower than in January when firms distributed year-end bonuses, the report said, adding take-home wages were NT$39,362, an increase of 1.88 percent from a year earlier.
While average overtime picked up 0.2 hours in the first two months of this year, average overtime pay gained 12.5 percent to NT$1,681, Pan said, attributing the increase to the new labor rules.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
