Taiwan’s jobless rate falls to lowest level in nearly seven years amid surge in tourism
Economy boosted by a stronger service sector as employment in manufacturing declines
Taiwan’s jobless rate fell to the lowest level in almost seven years as rising tourism, including from mainland China, helped offset waning employment in manufacturing.
The unemployment rate in December fell to 3.84 per cent, the lowest monthly rate since the 3.82 per cent recorded for February 2008, according to data released by the statistics bureau.
Structural change within the economy is resulting in more service industry jobs and fewer manufacturing jobs, said Gordon Sun, director of the Macroeconomic Forecasting Centre at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.
“The areas of Taiwan where joblessness is lowest are the places mainland tourists like to go: Alishan, Sun Moon Lake, and Hualien,” he said.
About 3.2 million mainland tourists visited Taiwan last year, a 47 per cent increase over the previous year, Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office said last week.
Taiwan said more than 9.9 million people visited in 2014, generating about NT$437 billion (HK$107 billion) in tourism-related revenue.