Taiwan's jobless rate fell for a third straight month in September to 3.96 percent as locally transmitted COVID-19 cases have been brought under control, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Friday.

The unemployment rate for September fell 0.28 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.96 percent, the lowest since April, when it was 3.64 percent, according to data compiled by the DGBAS.

After seasonal adjustments, the DGBAS said, the September jobless rate was 3.92 percent, down 0.16 percentage points from a month earlier.

In the first nine months of 2021, the jobless rate averaged 4.04 percent, up 0.16 percentage points from a year earlier, DGBAS data showed.

The number of those who were out of a job in September fell 34,000, or 6.71 percent, to 471,000, according to the DGBAS.

With economic activity stabilizing, the number of people employed in September rose 18,000, or 0.16 percent, from a month earlier to about 11.42 million, and the labor participation rate was 58.93 percent, down 0.05 percentage points from August, the DGBAS said.

Chen Hui-hsin (???), deputy director of the DGBAS census department, said Taiwan's job market had been hit in May and June by a serious COVID-19 outbreak, but the situation has been improving, giving a boost to business activity and lifting employment.

Also improving the employment picture was the ability of first time jobseekers to land jobs, Chen said.

In September, the number of those who lost jobs due to businesses downsizing or closing down fell 17,000 from a month earlier, and the number of first time jobseekers also dropped 8,000, the DGBAS said.

The unemployment rate among people with a university degree was 5.47 percent, the highest among all education groups, according to DGBAS figures.

The jobless rate for people with a high school education and a junior high school education was 3.72 percent and 3.00 percent, respectively, DGBAS figures showed.

By age, the unemployment rate for individuals aged 20-24 was 12.80 percent, the majority of whom were first-time jobseekers, while the jobless rate was 8.84 percent for people aged 15-19, and 6.62 percent for the 25-29 age group, the data indicated.

Chen said she expected employment in Taiwan to continue to improve in the fourth quarter as the local economy improves, but added that potential changes in the COVID-19 situation at home and abroad were still sources of economic uncertainty.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel