Taiwan's May jobless rate at new high, to rise more

Taiwan's seasonally adjusted jobless rate swept to a new record high of 5.84 percent in May, the government said on Monday, with the rising trend expected to persist with more job losses in the recession-hit economy.

Taiwan's jobless rate, which was 5.77 percent in April, has been on the rise since April last year and has repeatedly hit record highs every month his year, with more workers out of jobs in the key manufacturing sector because of a slump in export.

The trend is similar throughout most of Asia, with economies such as Hong Kong and South Korea also seeing steady climbs in unemployment.

"Taiwan's unemployment still has room to rise in coming months and there are signs that Taiwan consumers are pulling back on spending," said Daniel Soh, an economist at Forecast Ltd.

"I think the jobless rate will easily hit 6 percent in coming months and we don't see the domestic slump improving yet."

Taiwan's gross domestic product shrank by an annual record of 10 percent in the first quarter, with the contraction likely to continue in coming quarters even though the number will narrow.

However, jobless rate is expected to scale new records as it is a lagging indicator.

The manufacturing sector, which represents a third of Taiwan's workforce, saw significant job losses as the island's exports have fallen by about 30 percent from a year earlier in recent months.

"Manufacturing is faring the worst," statistics agency official Huang Jiann-jong told a news conference. "The jobless rate is rising steadily, but it is not rising as dramatically as before."

Taiwan, whose total labour force is nearly half its 23 million population, posted an average jobless rate of 4.14 percent for last year, up from 3.91 percent in 2007.

The government's target jobless rate of 4.5 percent is seen as tough to achieve by analysts.

TAIPEI, June 22 (Reuters)