Jobless rate ends 2-month rising streak in April

Taipei, May 22 (CNA) Taiwan's jobless rate fell in April, breaking a two-month rising streak, as job openings increased in domestic demand-oriented industries in the post COVID-19 era, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Monday.

Data compiled by the DGBAS showed the local unemployment rate fell to 3.50 percent in April, down 0.06 percentage points from March, and after seasonal adjustments the jobless rate also fell 0.03 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.56 percent.

According to the DGBAS, the latest jobless rate was the lowest in April since 2000, when the unemployment rate stood at 2.73 percent.

After seasonal adjustments, the April jobless rate was the lowest since January 2001, when the figure also hit 3.56 percent, the DGBAS figure showed.

In April, the number of people who lost jobs fell 7,000 or 1.64 percent from a month earlier to 417,000, while the number of employed rose 12,000 or 0.10 percent from March to 11.51 million with the labor participation rate at 59.18 percent, down 0.02 percentage points from a month earlier.

In the first four months of this year, Taiwan's jobless rate averaged 3.52 percent, down 0.12 percentage points from a year earlier, the DGBAS said.

Speaking with reporters, DGBAS Census Department Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said the fall in the jobless rate in April largely reflected a decline in the number of people who lost their jobs due to business closures or downsizing, referring to domestic demand industries, such as lodging and food/beverage, amid eased COVID-19 controls.

In April, the number of unemployed due to business closures and downsizing fell 4,000 from a month earlier.

From July 2022 to April 2023, the number of unemployed in the category fell 28,000 as demand for manpower steadily increased, Chen said.

Also in April, the number of first-time jobseekers fell 2,000 from a month earlier, the DGBAS added.

In addition, DGBAS data showed the number of those who worked for less than 35 hours a week rose 5,000 from a month earlier to 200,000 in April due to factors such as deteriorating business operations, a failure to find a job providing more than 35 hour work a week or other seasonal reasons.

The increase in the number of those who worked for less than 35 hours a week remains acceptable but the DGBAS will continue to monitor job market conditions, Chen said.

In April, the unemployment rate among those with a university degree stood at 4.84 percent, the highest among all educational levels, while the rate for individuals with a senior high school or junior high school education was 3.23 percent and 2.42 percent, respectively, according to DGBAS figures.

By age, the unemployment rate for those aged 20-24 in January stood at 11.75 percent, the majority of whom were first-time job seekers, while the jobless rate was 8.26 percent for the 15-19 age group, and 6.07 percent for those aged 25-29, the data indicated.

Taiwan's jobless rate is expected to remain stable in May before moving higher from June, when new graduates start to enter the job market, Chen said.