Taiwan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Taiwan fell to 3.45% in June 2023, down from 3.73% in June 2022, according to data from the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

On a monthly basis, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined by 0.05% to 3.45%.

When compared with that of the previous year, the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined by 0.25% in June. On a month-on-month basis, the unemployment rate rose by 0.03% to 3.49% in June.

The increase in first-time jobseekers more than offset a drop in people who lost their jobs due to downsizing and closures, the DGBAS told Taipei Times.

The DGBAS also said the reading for the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was the lowest for June in 23 years, despite the arrival of graduation season, thanks to healthy labour demand in the service sector.

“Although the labour market was resilient, exporters are taking a hit from soft demand and put more than 10,000 people on unpaid leave,” Census Department Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin told the Taipei Times.

The number of unemployed persons was 417,000 in June, it increased by 5,000 (1.03%) from the previous month but decreased by 25,000(-5.80%) from the previous year.

Total employment increased by 11,000 (0.09%) in June to 11,518,000; moreover, it also increased by 146,000 (1.28%) when compared with that of the previous year.

When compared to the previous year period, employment in agriculture decreased by 22,000 (-4.21%); however, the industry sector and the services sector increased by 9,000 (0.23%) and 159,000 (2.34%), respectively.

Month-on-month figures showed employment in agriculture and the services sector increased by 1,000 (0.17%) and 10,000 (0.14%) in June, respectively; by contrast, the industry sector decreased by 1,000 (-0.01%).

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s labour force participation rate rose over the month by 0.04% to 59.17% in June. It also rose by 0.05% from that of the previous year.