WORK HOURS: The DGBAS said the number of people whose work hours decreased rose, indicating that local firms are contracting operations amid declining business

Taipei Times
Date: May 23, 2020
By: Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

The unemployment rate climbed to 4.03 percent last month as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic began to bite, surpassing 4 percent for the first time in the past 42 months, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

Last month’s figure is the highest for April in the past seven years, DGBAS data showed.

The jobless rate expanded for the third consecutive month after posting 3.64 percent, 3.7 percent and 3.72 percent respectively in the first three months of this year, DGBAS senior executive officer Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) told a media briefing.

The gauge accelerated last month with a monthly gain of 0.31 percent, the highest for a single month in the past 11 years, as more firms in the service sector, hurt by the outbreak, dismissed employees while cutting back on operations or shutting down, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]