Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/22
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) The average wage for the first two months of this year fell from a year earlier as employers doled out lower year-end bonuses before the Lunar New Year holiday in the wake of an economic slowdown, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Friday.

According to the DGBAS, the average wage stood at NT$67,425 (US$2,087), down 2.69 percent from a year earlier after employees on average received year-end bonuses equal to 1.54 months of their salary, down from an average of 1.69 months of their salary seen a year earlier.

The DGBAS said that due to slower business, employers here gave about NT$4,950 less in year-end bonuses this year than a year earlier. The latest year-end bonuses were the lowest in three years in terms of the number of months paid, the government agency said. In 2014 and 2013, year-end bonuses doled out by employers here were equal to 1.55 months of wages and 1.44 months, respectively, the DGBAS data showed.     [FULL  STORY]