Taiwan Services Sector Starts Rehiring After Covid Curbs Eased

(Bloomberg) -- Unemployment in Taiwan fell from the highest in more than a decade after the government eased restrictions on some tourist sites and entertainment venues after the number of Covid cases fell. 

The unemployment rate fell to 4.36%, according to the cabinet’s statistics department, lower than the lowest forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Around 63,000 people joined the workforce in July.

The services sector saw the biggest jump in new jobs as the government allowed wedding-banquet venues, tourist sites and bowling alleys to reopen from July 27, with 53,000 more people working in services in July than in June. 

Workers in the sector have been among the hardest hit due to the coronavirus outbreak. In May, health authorities shut all entertainment and recreation facilities, such as bars, gyms and tourist attractions, as part of their efforts to rein in Taiwan’s worst Covid outbreak. Restaurants were barred from accepting dine-in customers while department stores sales fell by around 60% as shoppers stayed home.

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