Taipei, Feb. 24 (CNA) Taiwan’s unemployment rate dropped in January for the seventh consecutive month, as business activity continued to improve, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Thursday.
DGBAS data showed that the jobless rate fell 0.03 percentage points in January from a month earlier to 3.61 percent.
After seasonal adjustments, the country’s unemployment rate was 3.70 percent, the lowest recorded in the month of January since 2019, the DGBAS said.
Some 430,000 people were out of work in January, down by 3,000 from December, while the number of employed workers was 11.474 million.
In January, labor force participation rate rose by 0.01 percentage points to 59.17 percent, the DGBAS said.
The number of people employed in the industrial and service sectors fell 0.06 percent and 0.01 percent, respectively, in January from a month earlier, while in the agricultural sector it dropped 0.62 percent, the data showed.
Meanwhile, the DGBAS said the number of people who lost their jobs due to business downsizing or closures in January fell by 4,000 from a month earlier, while those who became unemployed because they were dissatisfied with their jobs dropped by 2,000.
A DGBAS official said that while there has been an overall improvement in the jobless situation in Taiwan, the labor market in the future will still depend largely on the COVID-19 situation and the employment needs of domestic businesses.
Sources:The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC )
