Taiwan's July jobless rate sets new high of 3.78 pct over nine months

TAIPEI, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's unemployment rate rose to 3.78 percent in July, setting a new record high over the past nine months, said the island's statistics agency on Monday.

A total of 448,000 people on the island became unemployed in July, 6,000 or 1.33 percent more than the previous month, said the agency.

When looking at age groups, the jobless rate was found to be particularly high among young job hunters, aged below 30. Statistics show that the ratio was 12.68 percent among those aged between 20 and 24 and 6.24 percent between 25 and 29.

Taiwan's unemployment rate over the first seven months this year was 3.68 percent on average, and the ratio is estimated to continue rising in August, according to the agency.

Meanwhile, a total of 11,397,000 people on the island landed jobs in July, slightly more than the previous month, while the average figure for the first seven months this year was 11,418,000, declining 0.28 percent year on year, the agency added.