Taiwan’s jobless rate in 2015 was the lowest in 15 years. That’s according to a report released by the government statistics office Friday.
Last year’s jobless rate stood at 3.78%, down 0.18 percentage points from the previous year. The report said the dip was mainly due to economic recovery at the end of 2014 that continued through the first half of 2015 before turning sour again.
Thanks to a thriving tourism industry at nearby Alishan, the southwestern city of Chiayi had the lowest unemployment rate at 3.5%. Yilan County and cities like Taoyuan, Keelung, and Hsinchu had more people out of work with a jobless rate of 3.9%.
The statistics office also said that the jobless rate in December stood at 3.87%, down 0.04 percentage points from the previous month. That’s because there were fewer factory closures during the Christmas season in December. This figure is the second lowest for December during the last eight years.