Taiwan’s unemployment rate has hit a two-year high. The statistics office released new figures on Monday which showed that the jobless rate for July was 4.02%. That’s a rise of 0.1% over the previous month.
However, senior analyst Pan Ning-hsin of the statistics office said on Monday that those figures don’t take seasonal factors into account.
“In order for us to really understand the change in unemployment rate, we need to see the figure after seasonal adjustment. The figure for July, after adjustment, is the same as June, at 3.96%. That means when we take away seasonal factors, such as the massive number of recent graduates [who are all seeking jobs], the figures for the last two months are both 3.96%. This means our labor market and unemployment rate are largely unchanged," said Pan.
Pan also said that the rise in unemployment is within the expected range for the season. He said that Taiwan’s economy has not further slowed… that can be seen in the fact that many industries are currently hiring.