Taiwan's jobless rate edges up to 3.45% in July

Taipei, Aug. 22 (CNA) Taiwan's unemployment rate rose slightly by 0.06 percentage points in July from a month earlier to 3.45 percent, as new graduates were seeking to enter the employment market, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported Thursday.

DGBAS official Jang Yi-suei (張一穗) said the unemployment rate usually rises in the June-August period, in the graduation season when there are many new job hunters.

After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate remained unchanged at 3.34 percent from June, DGBAS data showed.

Both figures were the lowest for July in two years.

According to DGBAS statistics, 415,000 workers were unemployed in July, up by 9,000 from June, with first-time job seekers growing by 5,000, and the number of other unemployed job seekers rising by 4,000.

The total number of unemployed workers in July, however, showed a decrease of 11,000 from a year earlier.

In July, over 11.61 million workers were hired, a monthly rise of 23,000, with 19,000 entering the service sector, and 3,000 employed in the manufacturing sector, during the peak summer season, according to the DGBAS.

Jang said the unemployment rate is likely to be uncertain in August, depending on the graduate job hunter situation, the business climate, and the overall economic outlook, but is expected to stabilize in September.

Elsewhere, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in July was 4.3 percent in the United States, 6.4 percent in Canada, 3 percent in Hong Kong and 2.5 percent in South Korea, according to DGBAS statistics.