TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's unemployment rate declined 0.04% from the previous month, reaching 3.36% in November, a two-year low, according to a report issued by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics on Monday.

It was the third consecutive monthly decline with 5,000 fewer unemployed compared to October. In November, 403,000 people reported unemployment.  

Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲), deputy director of the DGBAS Census Department, noted the unemployment rate is expected to continue declining in December due to holiday shopping leading up to the Lunar New Year that falls in late January, per CNA.

The unemployment rate for youth aged 15-19 was 7.91%, and highest amongst those aged 20-24 at 11.3%. Many in the latter age group are recent college graduates looking for their first full-time employment, typically exercising more caution when choosing a job.

As for those aged 25-29, roughly 5.85% were out of work, while those aged 30-34 experienced 3.46% unemployment. According to DGBAS, the main reason for unemployment was employee dissatisfaction with employers. 

Taiwan’s total employment in November was 11.6 million people, an increase of 29,000 (0.25%) compared with the previous year.

In terms of global trends, Taiwan's unemployment rate of 3.36% is slightly higher than regional economies such as Hong Kong (3.1%) and South Korea (2.7%), though lower than developed western countries such as Canada (6.8%) and the US (4.2%), per DGBAS.