Taiwan's Jobless Rate Hits 14-year Low of 3.92% in June, 2014

Taiwan's unemployment rate edged up 0.07 of a percentage point from a month earlier to 3.92% in June, the lowest for June in 14 years with the unemployed reaching 451,000 persons, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

C. S. Huang, director of the DGBAS' Department of Census, indicates that the job market this year seems to be improving, particularly in the service sector.

Thriving tourism has added to the service sector some 64,000 jobs in the first half (H1) of the year, mainly in  F&B, hotel, amusement parks, and other leisure industries, hence the jobless rate in June dropping to a six-year low of 3.97%.

Taiwan's jobless rate will likely remain sub-4% for the full year as long as the job market stays robust in H1. (JL)