Taiwan’s jobless rate in August stood at 4.08%, the lowest August unemployment rate in 14 years. That’s according to a report out Monday by the government statistics office.
Although the jobless rate rose 0.06 percentage points from the previous month, with 473,000 people out of a job, the average unemployment rate from January to August stood at 3.99%. That’s the lowest figure for that period in six years. Analysts say the figures show that the economy has recovered and that the job market looks promising for young people.
A statistics office official, Lo Yi-ling, said Monday that the jobless rate usually rises between 0.2 and 0.4 percentage points at graduation time -- between May and August. But she said that this year, the jobless rate only rose 0.17 percentage points during that period.
“When compared with 2012 and 2013, the percentage increase is relatively small. Therefore, the impact on the unemployment rate of new graduates seeking jobs, has been relatively minimal," said Lo.
The average monthly earnings from January to July were about 49,700 Taiwan dollars, or more than 1,600 US dollars.