Taipei: Taiwan’s unemployment rate rose for the second consecutive month in July, driven by an increase in first-time job seekers entering the labor market during graduation season, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Friday. The unemployment rate edged up 0.04 percentage points from June to 3.40 percent in July, marking the highest level in nine months, according to DGBAS data. After seasonal adjustments, however, the July jobless rate slipped 0.01 percentage points from the previous month to 3.33 percent, the agency said.

According to Focus Taiwan, from January to July, Taiwan’s average unemployment rate was 3.34 percent, down 0.03 percentage points from a year earlier. Tan Wen-ling, deputy director of the agency’s Census Department, indicated that the rise in unemployment was primarily due to the influx of first-time job seekers into the market. In July, the number of unemployed rose by 5,000, or 1.39 percent, from a month earlier to 409,000, with first-time job seekers accounting for an increase of 4,000.

Tan highlighted that this growth was a result of new graduates entering the labor market, a trend expected to persist into August. The number of employed individuals reached 11.64 million in July, reflecting an increase of 21,000, or 0.18 percent, from June. The labor participation rate climbed 0.13 percentage points to 59.51 percent.

By education level, those with a university degree experienced the highest unemployment rate at 4.63 percent in July. The jobless rate stood at 3.06 percent for those with a senior high school education and 2.16 percent for those with a junior high school education. Unemployment among individuals aged 20-24 was 11.91 percent, indicating a high concentration of first-time job seekers in this group, while the rate was 6.00 percent for the 25-29 age group.

Tan noted that the job market remained stable, and the impact of U.S. tariffs was not yet evident, as the 20 percent levy on Taiwanese goods took effect only on Aug. 7. This new tariff rate is higher than the 15 percent imposed on Japanese and South Korean products. Citing Ministry of Labor data, Tan mentioned that the number of furloughed workers reached 3,441 at the end of July, up from 2,878 at the end of June.

The DGBAS reported that 117,000 people were in time-related underemployment in July, an increase of 6,000 from a month earlier but a decrease of 2,000 from a year earlier. The International Labor Organization defines time-related underemployment as a situation where workers’ hours are insufficient compared to a more desirable employment situation in which they are willing and available to work more.