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Taiwan's Jobless Rate Drops to 3.95% in October

2014/11/28 | By Judy Li

Taiwan's unemployment rate declined to 3.95% in October, down 0.01 of a percentage point from a month earlier for the second consecutive monthly fall, with the year-on-year range of fall widening to 0.29 of a percentage point for the 19th straight monthly drop, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

Y. L. Lo, deputy director of the DGBAS' Department of Census, indicates that 21,000 people found jobs in October relative to the previous month, with the unemployed down 1,000 persons, indicative of better job market.

However, the unemployment rate of 25-19 year-olds remained at  6.68%, with that of college-and-higher exceeding 5.15%, both of which were down YoY.

In the first 10 months the average jobless rate was 3.98%, which will stay sub-4% in 2014 definitely as long as the percentage remains sub-4% in the following two months, to be the lowest on record since 2008 when President Ma Ying-jeou took over the administration, Lo says.

In September the annual growth of regular pay in Taiwan stood at 2.19% and in the first nine months the regular monthly pay averaged  NT$38,111 (US$1,270.4), or only NT$36.673 (US$1,222.4) if taking into account CPI growth, lower than that in 1999. (JL)