Jobless rate up in June as first-time jobseekers increase

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) Taiwan's jobless rate nominally rose from a month earlier in June as new graduates entered the labor market, but it remained unchanged after seasonal adjustments, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

The nominal unemployment rate in June rose 0.06 percentage points from May to 3.36 percent, the lowest for the month of June in 25 years, data released by the DGBAS on Tuesday showed.

After seasonal adjustments, the June jobless rate stood at 3.34 percent, unchanged from a month earlier, the data showed.

The unemployment rate averaged 3.33 percent in the first six months of 2025, down 0.03 percentage points from the same period a year earlier.

Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲), deputy director of the agency's Census Department, said Taiwan's job market appeared stable despite a slight rise from May and that the United States' chaotic tariff polices had not had much of an impact on employment in Taiwan to this point.

Citing furloughed worker statistics compiled by the Ministry of Labor as evidence, Tan said the number was 2,878 at the end of June, up slightly from 2,831 at the end of May.

In June, the number of those unemployed rose 8,000, or 2 percent, from a month earlier to 404,000, while the number of those employed grew 6,000, or 0.05 percent, from a month earlier to about 11.62 million, according to DGBAS data.

The labor participation ratio was 59.38 percent in June, up 0.08 percentage points from a month earlier.

Tan said the slight month-on-month rise in the jobless rate in June largely reflected an increase in first-time jobseekers as new graduates jumped into the job market, and she expected the jobless rate to continue to rise in July and August.

In June, the number of the first-time jobseekers rose 9,000 from a month earlier, according to the DGBAS.

By education level, the unemployment rate among those with a university degree was 4.56 percent in June, the highest among all educational levels, the DGBAS said.

Individuals with a senior high or junior high school education had unemployment rates of 3.08 percent and 1.99 percent, respectively, in June, according to DGBAS figures.

By age, the unemployment rate for those aged 20-24 in June was 11.71 percent because of the high concentration of first-time jobseekers in the age group, but was only 5.79 percent for those aged 25-29, the data showed.

The DGBAS said 111,000 people were in time-related underemployment in June, down 3,000 from a month earlier and also down 21,000 from a year earlier.

According to the International Labor Organization, time-related underemployment relates to the number of employed persons whose hours of work are insufficient in relation to a more desirable employment situation in which the person is willing and available to engage.