Taiwan's jobless rate hit new low of 3.8% in January

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 3, 2006. It reports that Taiwan's jobless rate hit a new low of 3.8 percent in January 2006, thanks to the increased number of temporary jobs available during the Chinese New Year holidays.

Officials from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said that the 3.8-percent figure was the lowest since March 2001, and was the first time the number of jobless persons in Taiwan has fallen below 400,000 since May 2001.

In January 2006, the unemployed population in Taiwan dropped to 397,000 persons, a 133,000-person decrease from the 530,000 jobless posted at the height of unemployment in 2002. Thanks to an improved business climate, especially in the manufacturing and construction industries, Taiwan's employed population experienced an annual rise of 1.4 percent to 10.04 million persons in January 2006.

If the number of "hidden jobless" - those who want a job but do not try to find one - is included, then the unemployed population in Taiwan would have been about 201,000 persons in January 2006.