The seasonally adjusted rate increased to 6.07 percent from 6.01 percent in July, the 12th straight gain, the statistics bureau said today in Taipei. That's the highest since the government began tracking unemployment in 1978, and compares with the 6.04 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 economists.

"The jobless rate may stay high this month as some college graduates continue to look for jobs," said Chuang Rehong, an economist at SinoPac Securities Corp. in Taipei. "The unemployment situation will improve in the fourth quarter after businesses increase hiring on the economic recovery."

Taiwan last month raised its gross domestic product forecast amid signs of a global recovery and said reconstruction spending after the deadliest typhoon in 50 years may further improve the economy's performance. GDP will shrink 4.04 percent in 2009, from an earlier estimate of 4.25 percent, the statistics bureau said in August.

The contraction will be less if half of a planned typhoon reconstruction program is spent this year, it said. Typhoon Morakot dumped record rainfall on Taiwan between Aug. 6 and 9, killing more than 600 people as landslides buried villages and destroyed bridges and roads.

The easing of the economic contraction, led by exporters including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., comes as Asian nations such as South Korea, China and Singapore lead a regional rebound. The number of unemployed people rose to 662,000 in August from a revised 656,000 in July. Without adjusting for seasonal factors, Taiwan's jobless rate climbed to 6.13 percent from 6.07 percent in July.

"The unemployment situation will likely stabilize as corporations are gradually increasing hiring," the statistics bureau said in a statement yesterday.