Taiwan jobless rate at lowest level in 15 years

Taiwan jobless rate at lowest level in 15 years

Unemployment in Taiwan was 3.78 percent last year, the lowest level since 2000, the island’s statistics agency announced Friday.

This is a decrease from 3.96 percent posted in 2014, showing the job market is generally steady, the agency said in a press release.

There were around 440,000 unemployed people in Taiwan in 2015, compared with 11.2 million employed, it said.

The unemployment rate of the young (15 to 24 years old) was 12.05 percent, compared with 3.95 percent for the 25-44 age range, and 1.99 percent for those aged between 45 and 64.

In December alone, 3.87 percent of Taiwan’s residents reported being unemployed, down from 3.91 percent for November.

The agency said in a separate statement that in the first 11 months of 2015, industrial and service sector employees had record high average monthly salaries — around 48,650 New Taiwan dollars (about 1,445 U.S. dollars).