Taiwan's unemployment rate rose in March for the second consecutive month, reflecting a trend this year of workers postponing their plans to quit or change jobs until after the Lunar New Year holiday, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported Friday.
DGBAS data showed that the jobless rate for March rose 0.01 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.66 percent, and after seasonal adjustments, it was 3.70 percent, up 0.03 percentage points from February.
In March, the number of unemployed people rose by 1,000, or 0.19 percent, from a month earlier to 435,000, according to the DGBAS.
The number of employed workers in March stood at 11.44 million, down by 18,000, or 0.16 percent, from a month earlier, while the labor participation rate was 59.19 percent, up 0.02 percentage points from February, the DGBAS said.
In the first three months of the year, the jobless rate averaged 3.64 percent, down 0.04 percentage points from a year earlier, it said.
DGBAS analysis
Chen Hui-hsin (???), deputy director of the DGBAS census department, told reporters that the slight fluctuations in the country's jobless rate in March indicated that the domestic economy and the job market were stable.
The increase in the number of unemployed people in March largely reflected decisions by workers who wanted to change jobs to delay their plans until March, instead of quitting in February around the time of the Lunar New Year holiday, as they usually do, Chen said.
The number of workers who quit their jobs to seek new ones rose by 6,000 in March from a month earlier, and the number of first-time jobseekers increased by 1,000, the data showed.
Lunar New Year factor
In Taiwan, people who are aiming to land a new job tend to quit their old ones around the Lunar New Year holiday period, after they receive their year-end bonuses.
Meanwhile, the number of people who lost jobs due to business closures or downsizing fell by 7,000 in March from a month earlier, marking the ninth straight month of decline, Chen said, adding that it was another indication of job market stability in Taiwan.
Among the employed, the number in the service sector fell by 8,000 in March from a month earlier, while in the industrial and agricultural sectors the numbers dropped by 6,000 and 4,000, respectively, she said.
Chen said the decline in the number of employed people largely reflected a drop in the over-15 population.
The unemployment rate among people with a university degree was 5.25 percent in March, the highest among all other groups, according to DGBAS figures.
The jobless rate for individuals with a senior high school and junior high school education was 3.32 percent and 2.58 percent, respectively, DGBAS figures showed.
The unemployment rate in the 20-24 age group was 12.48 percent, the majority of them being first-time jobseekers, while it was 8.47 percent in the 15-19 age category, and 6.19 percent in the 25-29 age group, the data indicated.
Job market outlook
Chen forecast that Taiwan's unemployment rate would drop in April, as people who wanted to change course would have done so already.
Despite a spike in domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases, she said, the job market is expected to remain stable, as daily life in the country remained normal without any stringent restrictions on people's movements.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel