Jobless rate down for 2nd straight month in May

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) Taiwan's jobless rate moved lower for a second consecutive month in May as the number of those who left their original jobs and were still looking for work fell, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

The local unemployment rate fell 0.02 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.30 percent in May, the lowest level for the month in 25 years, data compiled by the DGBAS and released Monday showed.

Seasonally adjusted, the jobless rate was 3.34 percent in May, also down 0.02 percentage points from April and the lowest level in 24 and half year.

In the first five months of the year, the local job rate averaged 3.32 percent, down 0.04 percentage points from a year earlier, the data indicated.

In May, the number of unemployed fell 3,000 or 0.72 percent from a month earlier to 396,000, while the number of employed rose 6,000 or 0.05 percent from April to 11.61 million, with the labor participation rate at 59.30 percent, up 0.03 percentage points, the DGBAS said.

The number of those who quit their jobs because of dissatisfaction with them dropped 2,000 from a month earlier, which the DGBAS said was the main factor driving the downtrend in the overall unemployment rate.

By education level, the unemployment rate among those with a university degree was 4.41 percent in May, the highest among all educational levels, the DGBAS said.

Individuals with a senior high or junior high school education had unemployment rates of 3.10 percent and 1.97 percent, respectively, in August, according to DGBAS figures.

By age, the unemployment rate for those aged 20-24 in May was 11.14 percent because of the high concentration of first-time jobseekers in the age group, but was only 5.56 percent for those aged 25-29, the data showed.

Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲), deputy director of the agency's Census Department, said that judging from the May job data, the local job market stayed stable as the number of unemployed fell and the number of employed rose.

Tan said the number of those who lost jobs due to business closures or downsizing and remained unemployed in May fell to about 96,000, the lowest level in more than one year.

Local employment also benefited from rising exports caused by the 90-day pause in U.S. President Donald Trump's so-called "reciprocal" tariffs announced on April 9, which led overseas buyers to place orders ahead of schedule to try and avoid heavy tariff burdens.

She said the impact of the U.S. tariff polices on the local job market could be felt in the third quarter after the 90-day pause ends.

Under the reciprocal tariff regime originally announced by the White House, goods made in Taiwan and exported to the United States would all face import duties of 32 percent.

Tan said that as Taiwan has entered the graduation season, meaning more first-time jobseekers will jump into the market, the local jobless rate is likely to move higher from June to August, and the end of the 90-day tariff "pause" could complicate the situation.