More job losses in manufacturing, retail sectors

Taiwan's January seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose to a record high level of 5.33 percent as the island, caught up in the global downturn, suffers from possibly its longest recession.

Analysts expect Taiwan's jobless rate to climb further to around 6 percent in coming months as many technology, financial and retail companies take a hit from an exports slump and a record economic contraction of 8 percent in the fourth quarter. "Our jobs market is facing a very severe challenge now," Huang Jiann-jong, an official at the statistics agency, told a news conference on Thursday. "We will only see significant improvement in the jobless rate when there is economic growth."...more

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