Unemployment rates in selected countries

After climbing steadily for four months, reaching an all-time high in August, the unemployment rate showed a slight decline to 6.04% in September, totaling 661,000 unemployed workers. This figure is significantly better than in European and North American countries, but is still higher than neighboring Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong (see table).

Compared to September 2008, at the onset of the global financial meltdown, the ranks of the unemployed were up by 197,000 this September. The 45-64 age group was hit the hardest, with the number of jobless up by 70%. But overall, the unemployment rate among this age group came only to 3.83%, far lower than the 25-44 age group at 6.16% and the 15-24 age group at 15.53%. Evidently, older breadwinners have been bettter able to hold onto their jobs, and are less likely to quit the jobs they have.

If we consider educational levels, unemployment is greatest among those with a bachelor's degree or higher, at 6.46%. This is probably because the post-graduation job-seeking season is not yet over, so there should be some improvement over the coming months.

The situation of industrial workers and service industry employees remains unfavorable. Labor figures for August show an average of 178.2 hours worked for the month, 11.2 hours less than in July. The average total wage for the month came to NT$39,827, down by 0.24% from July.

This has been a tough year for Taiwan. The economic growth rate was negative 10.13% for the first quarter and negative 7.54% for the second, both figures breaking records. Thankfully, the government's policy of relaxing restrictions on economic contacts with mainland China has quickened the pace of Taiwan's recovery. And as the stock and housing markets climb, a positive turnaround in labor opportunities and wages will hopefully follow, laying a sound foundation for future economic growth.