Taiwan's unemployment rate up in February

TAIPEI, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's unemployment rate rose to 3.72 percent in February from 3.64 percent recorded in January, the island's statistical agency has said, citing the termination of temporary and seasonal work contracts after the Lunar New Year holiday as the main cause.

The unemployment rate in February was also 0.02 percentage points higher than the same month last year, according to the latest data.

In February, the number of people out of the job market rose by 9,000, or 2.07 percent from a month earlier, to 443,000, while the number of employed fell 12,000, or 0.10 percent from a month earlier, to 11.47 million, according to the data.

It's more difficult for people with university degrees to find a proper job, suggests the data, as the unemployment rate for them stood at 5.13 percent in February, marking the highest among people with different education backgrounds, compared with an unemployment rate of 3.55 percent for people with senior high school diplomas and 2.90 percent for those with a master's degree.

Young people aged between 20 to 24 years in Taiwan registered the highest unemployment rate of 11.94 percent. The statistical agency said young people need time to adjust to their career, particularly first-time job-seekers.