FIRST-TIME JOBSEEKERS: The unemployment rate after seasonal adjustments fell from 3.97 percent to 3.9 percent, suggesting the effects of the pandemic was easing

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 25, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The nation’s unemployment rate last month increased to 4 percent from 3.96 percent in June, as a seasonal increase in first-time jobseekers more than offset a drop in the number of people losing jobs to downsizing and closures, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

The statistics agency declined to disclose a forecast for this month, saying that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the economy and job market, although the situation has mostly stabilized.

“The virus outbreak postponed the entry of college graduates into the job market, accounting for the unexpected decline in the unemployment rate in June,” DGBAS Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said.

The unemployment rate tends to increase between June and August, Chen said, adding that the 0.04 percentage point gain last month is milder than increases of 0.09 to 0.11 percentage points in the previous five years.

The number of first-time jobseekers rose by 9,000 last month to 109,000, as the graduation season started to show an unfavorable effect on the job market, she said.   [FULL  STORY]