Taiwan jobless rate falls for March

Taiwan’s unemployment rate fell to 4.17 percent in March, the lowest level since September 2008, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics April 23.

“The employment situation was stable last month,” said Chen Min, deputy director of DGBAS Fourth Department. “But reducing the number of people out of work further will require additional improvements in all sectors of the economy,” she added.

According to Chen, the service industry created 14,000 new jobs last month; the agricultural sector, 2,000.

Divided by age, youngsters between 15 and 24 years of age had the highest jobless rate at 12.22 percent. The rate plummeted to 4.35 percent for the 25 to 45 age group.

The unemployment rate was 4.25 percent in February, 0.08 percentage points higher than in March. The unemployment rate for the first quarter as a whole came out to be 4.2 percent, down from 4.6 percent in the same period last year.

The DGBAS labor statistics were in line with the results of a job survey released April 23 by the Council of Labor Affairs.

The survey showed the ratio of job openings to applicants was 1.75 in March, up 0.27 from February, and the fifth month in a row in which the ratio has increased. According to the CLA, last month’s ratio means that the labor market offers more job openings than the number of job seekers. (HZW)