Growth in real monthly earnings in Taiwan hits six-year high

Taipei, Jan. 10 (CNA) Average earnings in the local industrial and service sectors in the first 11 months of last year after adjustments for inflation grew 1.99 percent from a year earlier, the highest growth in six years, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Friday.

Data compiled by the DGBAS showed that real average monthly earnings, comprising regular wages and non-regular wages such as bonuses and overtime pay, in the two sectors stood at NT$56,614 (US$1,717), up 1.99 percent year-on-year, the highest growth since 2018, when growth reached 2.15 percent.

Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲), deputy director of the agency's Census Department, told reporters that the growth in real average monthly earnings showed many employers were keen to give bonuses that reflected improving operations, which offset the impact of inflation.

In the 11-month period, the local consumer price index rose 2.18 percent from a year earlier, above the 2 percent alert set by the central bank.

Average nominal earnings in the same period rose 4.22 percent from a year earlier to NT$60,985, the data showed.

From January-November, real average monthly regular wages rose 0.55 percent from a year earlier to NT$43,076, while nominal average monthly regular wages rose 2.75 percent to NT$46,401, the data indicated.

In November alone, the DGBAS said, average regular wages during the same period rose 3.04 percent from a year earlier to NT$46,667, while average bonuses and overtime reached NT$8,845, lifting average earnings to NT$55,512, up 6.00 percent, the DGBAS said.

In the same month, the medium regular average wage was NT$37,465, up 3.39 percent from a year earlier the DGBAS added.

The manufacturing sector, the lodging and food/beverage industry and the retail/wholesale industry reported NT$44,429, NT$34,347 and NT$45,768, respectively, in average regular wages during the 11 month period, all below the average of NT$46,401, the DGBAS said.

However, the electronic components industry in the manufacturing sector reported average regular wages at NT$55,349 in the 11 months, higher than the average of NT$46,401, with the figures reported by the professional science and technology and audio/video publication and financial/insurance industries also beating the overall average, the DGBAS added.

Meanwhile, the number of monthly overtime hours in the electronic components industry hit 26.2 hours in November, the second highest for any month in more than 44 years, trailing only 27.1 hours in October.

Tan said the higher overtime hours in November came as strong global demand for artificial intelligence applications and high performance computing devices as well as peak season effects pushed up production, which requires more manpower, the DGBAS said.

In November, the number of overtime hours in the entire manufacturing sector reached 17.4 hours, the second highest in eight years, behind only the 17.5 hours recorded in October, according to the DGBAS.