COST OF LIVING/Industrial, service wages average NT$46,227 in 1st half of 2024: DGBAS

Taipei, Aug. 12 (CNA) Average monthly regular wages in Taiwan's industrial and service sectors stood at NT$46,227 (U$1,422.3) in the first half of 2024, a year-over-year increase of 2.56 percent and the largest increase in three years, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Monday.

Average monthly total earnings reached NT$64,084, up 3.74 percent on an annual basis and the sharpest rise in nine years, according to DGBAS figures.

DGBAS official Jang Yi-suei (張一穗) ascribed both increases to pay hikes delivered by companies and rise in the minimum wage, which beat the inflation growth rate recorded during the first six months of this year and helped the accumulated real wage and total pay stay in the positive territory for the third consecutive month.

For June alone, average monthly regular wage and average monthly total earnings stood at NT$46,486 and NT$55,447, a 3 percent and 3.17 percent rise, respectively, from a year earlier, DGBAS data showed.

As of the end of June, 8.43 million workers were employed in the two sectors, an expansion of 4,000 month-to-month, with the service sector seeing an increase of 5,000 and the manufacturing sector cut of 2,000.

Jang cited the post-COVID steady consumption as the main factor leading to the growing employment market as a whole.

In the manufacturing sector, workers in the electronics component industry registered an average of 24.6 hours of overtime in June, the third consecutive month this figure stood above 24 hours.

Although the manufacturing sector saw a drop in hired workers in June, overtime hours stayed at a relatively high level, which Jang said was a reflection of the sector's steadfast growth momentum.