News
Unemployment rate stable in February
Taiwan's jobless rate remained relatively stable in February despite the growing battle with the novel coronavirus disease during the month.
The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics says the unemployment rate last month rose 0.06 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.7%.
But the seasonally adjusted rate edged down 0.01 percentage points from a month earlier, also to 3.7%.
The government says the Covid-19 outbreak that started in late January has started to hit the travel, hotel, and retail sectors hard and it is watching closely to see how the epidemic will affect the local job market over time.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour says the number of new job openings in Taiwan's manufacturing sector increased by nearly 35.4% in February from a month earlier.
The increase came as Taiwanese businesses moved production from China back to Taiwan because of disruptions to their manufacturing bases in China caused by lockdowns of population centres due to the spread of Covid-19.
