The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said that Taiwan's unemployment rate stood at 4.35% in June 2011, a slight increase from May 2011 yet a decrease from the same period in 2010.

According to DGBAS, there were 10.696 million people in the workforce in June 2011, a rise of 26,000 or 0.25% MoM from May and an increase of 213,000 or 2.03% YoY.

As for the unemployed, they totaled 486,000 in June 2011, a rise of 10,000 or 0.08% MoM, yet a decline of 0.81% YoY. After seasonal adjustment, June's jobless rate was 4.4%, a decline of 0.01% from May 2011.

As for the first half, an average of 496,000 people were out of job, a decline of 17.63% YoY. The figure translated into an average unemployment rate of 4.45% for the first six months, a decline of 1.02% YoY.

Separately, according to the DGBAS, there were 680,000 positions available at government agencies from January to May 2011 period, a rise of 11.1% YoY. During the same time, 429,000 people looked for government positions, a decline of 17.8% YoY. The figures translated into a supply to demand ratio of 1.6.

According to DGBAS, those looking for non technician and labor oriented positions totaled 183,000 or 26.9% of the total. Those looking for technician and assistant related positions totaled 158,000 or 23.2%. Together, these people accounted for nearly half of all seekers of government jobs.

(Sourced from www.chinapost.com.tw)