TAIPEI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's unemployment rate in April was 4.03 percent, a record high for the same month in seven years, the island's statistics agency said Friday.
It registered a 0.31 percentage point increase compared with March, the largest monthly increase since the 2008 financial crisis.
The unemployment rate on the island has risen for three consecutive months, the agency said in a statement.
The total number of unemployed people was 481,000 in April, which was the highest since May last year and 36,000 more than in March.
A majority of the unemployed lost their jobs because their employers downsized or shut down business, according to the statement.
The number of employed people across the island was 11.47 million in April, down by 46,000 or 0.4 percent from March. Service sectors reported the biggest reduction of employment.
The agency attributed the rise of unemployment to the novel coronavirus epidemic and estimated the situation to improve in May as the epidemic eases and economy gradually recovers. Enditem
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)