Taipei, April 22 (CNA) Taiwan’s jobless rate rose for the second consecutive month to 3.35 percent in March, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) on Tuesday.
Data compiled by the DGBAS showed that the figure was a 0.01 percentage point increase from February. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate stood at 3.36 percent.
In March, about 403,000 people were unemployed, a rise of 1,000 from the previous month.
Among them, the number of those who are jobless due to dissatisfaction with their original jobs in March grew by 3,000 from the previous month, the DGBAS said.
Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people seeking work for the first time dropped by 2,000 from a month earlier.
The jobless increase in March was likely due to the continuing wave of people changing jobs following the Lunar New Year holiday, Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲), deputy director of the agency’s Census Department, told reporters at a briefing.
Asked whether the “reciprocal” tariffs imposed by the United States could impact Taiwan’s job market, Tan responded that the latter remained relatively stable based on the March data.
Any potential impact is expected to gradually emerge after June in the second half of this year, she explained.
On April 2, U.S. President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs on countries with relatively large trade surpluses with the United States, including Taiwan, which was facing an across-the-board 32 percent import duty.
The White House then announced a 90-day pause on the new measures, with a 10 percent duty to be applied instead to all countries except China.
The biggest issue right now is uncertainty, and future developments are becoming increasingly difficult to predict, the official said.
If there is to be an impact on the labor market, employees’ working hours as well as overtime could likely be reduced as businesses respond to declining demand from customers, Tan said.
Under normal circumstances, Taiwan’s jobless rate tends to decline in April as people changing jobs gradually find new employment, she said, adding that while Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs remain a major variable, further observation is needed.
