Taipei, Dec. 24, 2012 (CENS)--Taiwan’s unemployment rate reached 4.27% in November, a five-month low, dispelling the concern over the deterioration of the unemployment problem amid the sluggish economy, reported the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics on Dec. 22.
November’s unemployment rate was 0.06 of a percentage point lower than the October level, complying with the forecast of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) for gradual decline of unemployment rate in November and December. The DGBAS remarked that the current employment situation is moderate.
However, average pay in the first 10 months this year amounted to only NT$46,292, down 0.09% year-on-year, reflecting reluctance among employers to raise pays for their employees, due to slackened business. After taking into account 1.99% annual increase for consumer price index (CPI) during the period, the real average pay dropped 2.04% year-on-year.
Chen Min, deputy director of the national-status census department, DGBAS, pointed out that fresh school graduates had gradually found jobs and the number of jobless people caused by business shrinkage or closures didn’t expand, leading to decline in unemployment rate in November.
According to the statistics of the DGBAS, the number of the employed population hit 10.91 million in November, a record high. The unemployment problem among the youth and people with high academic degree also alleviated in November, as the unemployment rates among people ages 25-44 and those with college or higher education both dropped in November. 1,000 persons lost jobs due to business shrinkage or closure in November, less than 3,000 in October.
In November, the amount of new employment and turnover rate among employees both reached three-year low, indicating both employers and employees were conservative in hiring new persons or changing jobs during the bad times.
The unemployment rate usually peaks in August following entry of new graduates into the job market before gradually declining until the end of year. However, unemployment rate unexpectedly rose sequentially in October and the number of business closure picked up over the past several months, as a result of which the DGBAS once worried that the unemployment rate might become uncontrollable.
