離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES》Unemployment lowest in years for May
People work at a construction site in Taipei’s Nangang District on May 30. Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped 0.02 percentage points from the previous month to 3.34 percent, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said yesterday. Photo: CNA
UNEVEN ECONOMIC RECOVERY: The improvement was linked to jobs in the service sectors, as manufacturers were still under the effect of a slowdown, the DGBAS said
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The nation’s unemployment rate last month eased to 3.34 percent, as fewer people lost their jobs due to downsizing or business closures, although they took longer to find work, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics （DGBAS） said yesterday.
The figure was the lowest in 24 years for May and dropped 0.02 percentage points from April, the statistics agency said, adding that the figure might increase slightly this month due to it being graduation season.
“Service sectors accounted for the improvement in the job market, while manufacturers were still burdened” by a slowdown linked to sticky global inflation and tight monetary policy, Census Department Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin （陳惠欣） said.
Taiwan is experiencing an uneven economic recovery, with suppliers of electronics used in artificial intelligence underpinning the expansionary cycle.
The DGBAS said it observed an increase in the number of people who work fewer than 35 hours per week, meaning that more people were on furlough.
The number of people who worked fewer than 35 hours per week grew by 13,000 to 176,000, but remained below the normal range of 180,000 to 220,000, Chen said.
The average unemployment period was 22.4 weeks, 1.6 weeks longer than a month earlier, the DGBAS said, adding that the figure for first-time jobseekers grew by 0.9 weeks to 26.2.
The total unemployed population dropped 0.76 percent from a month earlier to about 400,000, as 2,000 fewer people lost jobs due to business downsizing or closures, and 1,000 fewer people lost work due to temporary hiring, it said.
By educational breakdown, people with a university degree had the highest unemployment rate at 4.45 percent, followed by high-school graduates at 3.22 percent, people with a junior college diploma at 2.67 percent and people with a graduate degree at 2.49 percent, the DGBAS said.
People with a junior-high education or lower had the lowest unemployment rate of 2.09 percent, it said.
Demographically, people aged 20 to 24 had the highest unemployment rate at 11.33 percent, followed by people aged 15 to 19 at 8.12 percent, those aged 25 to 29 at 5.78 percent and the 30 to 34 age group at 3.31 percent, the DGBAS said.
People aged 45 to 64 had the lowest unemployment rate of 2.13 percent, followed by people aged 40 to 44 at 2.47 percent, it said.
Taiwan’s unemployment rate after seasonal adjustments declined 0.04 percentage points to 3.35 percent, which was higher than South Korea’s 2.8 percent and Japan’s 2.6 percent, the DGBAS said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
