Taiwan sees marginal improvement in employment and wages

These were the findings of the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), which said that the industrial and service sectors showed the most improvement in terms of the increase in number of people employed – up by 30,000 or 0.36 percentage point from a month earlier, the second consecutive month-on-month increase.

This was in part due to the number of employees rising by 13,000 month-on-month in the lodging and food/beverage sub-sector as locally transmitted COVID-19 cases come under control.

The retail and wholesale industry posted second-highest figures after the number employed by it rose by 9,000 from a month earlier in August. The number employed in the education sector, which largely comprised cram schools and kindergartens, rose by 4,000 month-on-month, while the number in the medical care and social work business also grew 4,000 month-on-month, said DGBAS.

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In August, average monthly regular wages in the industrial and service sectors rose by NT$325 (US$11.56) or 0.76 percentage point to NT$43,277 (US$1,541), said DGBAS, adding that the growth came largely from a relatively low comparison base in July.

However, in August, average monthly earnings across all industries fell NT$4,196 (US$149.5) or 7.58 percentage points from a month earlier, according to Focus Taiwan.