cens logo

Taiwan's Jobless Rate Edges Down to 4.02% in January 2014

2014/03/06 | By Judy Li

Taiwan's unemployment rate declined 0.14 of a percentage point from a month earlier to 4.02% in January 2014, a new low in five and half years, but stands at 4.07% after seasonal adjustment, still down by 0.07 of a percentage point from the previous month, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

In January the unemployed population reached 462,000 persons for a monthly decrease of 7,000 persons due mainly to a 6,000 new job seekers having found work.

Y. L. Lo, deputy director of the DGBAS' Department of Census, indicates that the jobless rate of persons aged 25-29 dropped to 6.84%, so did those with college or above educational background to 4.9%.

In the same month those who lost jobs because of business downsizing or closure increased by 1,000 and the labor participation rate edged down by 0.03 of a percentage point to 58.52%.

In 2009 Taiwan's jobless rate peaked at 5.85%, and from then on the percentage gradually fell to about 4% in January of this year, which is still higher than Hong Kong (3.1%), South Korea (3.0%) and Singapore (1.8%). (JL)