‘NEW POSITIONS’:Many people who had quit their jobs after collecting Lunar New Year bonuses landed new jobs, bringing down the unemployment rate last month

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 24, 2018
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The unemployment rate last month fell to 3.66 percent, down 0.04 percentage points from a month earlier, as fewer people lost their jobs to business downsizing or temporary hiring, although more people quit, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

The data represented the lowest March unemployment level in 18 years, supported by a stable economy that helped firms maintain steady headcounts, it said.

“Many people who wanted to switch jobs landed new positions,” which is why the jobless gauge dropped from 3.7 percent in February, DGBAS Deputy Director Pan Ning-hsin (潘寧馨) told a media briefing.

Taiwanese who are dissatisfied with their work tend to change jobs after collecting year-end bonuses ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.    [FULL  STORY]