Taiwan's April jobless rate dips to 25-year low

Taipei, May 22 (CNA) Taiwan's jobless rate in April dropped by 0.03 percentage points from March to 3.32 percent, the lowest for that month in 25 years, indicating a stable job market, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Thursday.

After seasonal adjustments, the unemployment rate stood at 3.36 percent, the same level as the previous month, according to the data.

In April, about 399,000 people were unemployed, a fall of 4,000 from a month earlier, ending a two-month streak of month-on-month increases, DGBAS data showed.

Speaking with reporters, Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲), deputy director of the agency's Census Department, said that among the 399,000 unemployed people in Taiwan, the number of unemployed people seeking work for the first time dropped by 2,000 from a month earlier,

Meanwhile, the number of workers who became unemployed due to business closures or downsizing and those who are jobless due to dissatisfaction with their original jobs in April both dropped by 1,000 from the previous month.

The number of the unemployed in April also saw a decline of 4,000 from the same month last year.

The jobless rate usually rises in the two months following the Lunar New Year holiday, a time when people consider changing jobs after receiving year-end bonuses, before dropping, according to Tan.

If there are no unexpected changes, the unemployment rate may continue to decline in May. However, with the graduation season approaching in June, the rate is likely to rise again, Tan said.

The unemployment rate was highest among people 20-24 years old, at 11.3 percent, because of the high concentration of first-time job seekers in that age group, and 8.15 percent was registered in those aged 15-19, while 5.69 percent of people aged 25-29 and 3.4 percent aged 30-34 were unemployed, according to the DGBAS data.

In response to media questions about whether U.S. tariff measures would impact the job market, Tan said the impact was not yet significant.

However, according to data released by the Ministry of Labor on May 1, the number of employees placed on unpaid leave has slightly increased, indicating that a few companies have indeed been affected by the U.S. tariffs, she said.

Still, since there is a 90-day suspension of additional tariffs beyond the "base" 10 percent tariff applicable to most countries, including Taiwan, the concrete impact of the new tariff measure on the job market remains unclear and will require further observation, Tan said.

Compared to the seasonally adjusted unemployment rates of major countries in April, the DGBAS data showed that the 3.36 percent Taiwan recorded was lower than Canada's 6.9 percent, the United States' 4.2 percent, but higher than South Korea's 2.7 percent.