2020.02.2407:50:00UTC+00Taiwan Industrial Production, Jobless Rate Falls

Taiwan's industrial production fell for the first time in three months in January and the unemployment eased during the month, official figures showed on Monday.

Industrial production fell 1.51 percent year-on-year in January, after a 6.29 percent rise in December, data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed.

Manufacturing output fell 1.28 percent annually in January, after a 6.66 percent rise in the previous month.

Production in mining and quarrying, and electricity and gas supply declined 22.8 percent and 4.48 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, production in water supply rose 1.27 percent.

On a monthly basis, industrial production rose 4.18 percent in January, following a 0.88 percent increase in the preceding month. This was the highest in nine months.

Data from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics showed that the jobless rate fell to an unadjusted 3.64 in January from 3.67 percent in December.

The number of unemployed persons decreased to 436,000 in January from 439,000 in the previous month.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate fell to 3.71 percent in January from 3.72 percent in the prior month.