Jobless rates dips to 24-year low for May

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) Taiwan's jobless rate fell to its lowest level in May in 24 years because of its stable job market fueled by an economy that continues to gain steam, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Monday.

The unemployment rate fell 0.02 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.34 percent in May, the lowest level for the month since May 2000, when it was 2.78 percent, according to data compiled by the DGBAS.

It was also the third straight month in which the unemployment rate fell, according to the DGBAS.

After seasonal adjustments, the local jobless rate fell 0.04 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.35 percent, the lowest level since November 2000, when it was 3.23 percent, the data showed.

In the first five months of 2024, Taiwan's jobless rate fell 0.15 percentage points from a year earlier to 3.36 percent, the DGBAS said.

At a press briefing Monday, Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣), deputy director of the DGBAS' Census Department, said the local labor market was clearly stable judging by the falls in the latest jobless rates before and after seasonal adjustments.

In May, the number of people without a job fell 3,000, or 0.76 percent, from a year earlier to about 400,000, while the number of employed rose 1,000, or 0.01 percent from a month earlier, to 11.58 million.

That resulted in a labor participation rate of 59.20 percent in May, almost identical to the figure a month earlier, according to the DGBAS data.

The DGBAS said the number of those who lost jobs due to business closures or downsizing fell 2,000 from a month earlier in May, and the number of those who were unemployed after their seasonal or temporary contracts ended fell 1,000 from April, the DGBAS data showed.

On a year-on-year basis, the number of unemployed in Taiwan fell 12,000, or 3.09 percent, in May, the DGBAS said.

By education level, the unemployment rate among those with a university degree was 4.45 percent in May, the highest among all educational levels.

The rate for individuals with a senior high or junior high school education were 3.22 percent and 2.09 percent, respectively, in May, according to DGBAS figures.

By age, the unemployment rate for those aged 20-24 in May was 11.33 percent because of the high concentration of first-time jobseekers in the age group, but was only 5.78 percent for those aged 25-29, the data showed.

In addition, the jobless rate for those aged 15-19 was 8.12 percent in May, the DGBAS said.

Chen said the jobless rate could rise slightly in June with new graduates entering the local labor market during graduation season, the effects of which are expected to continue into August.