TAIPEI: The average monthly wages of workers rose 3 percent in the first nine months of this year from a year earlier, partially reflecting an increase in year-end and performance bonuses, according to government statistics released yesterday.
In the nine-month period, the average employee earned NT$49,977 (US$1,524) per month, the highest-ever recorded for the same period of the year in the nation’s history, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.
Monthly earnings consist of regular wages — including salary, fixed monthly subsidies and bonuses — and irregular earnings, such as overtime pay and year-end and performance bonuses, which employers tend to issue before the Lunar New Year holiday, which usually falls in January or February.
The DGBAS said that the average regular wage stood at NT$38,631, the highest-ever for the period and up 1.36 percent from a year earlier. During the same period, the average non-regular wage rose 8.99 percent from a year ago to NT$11,346, due to an increase in bonus payments.
After being adjusted for a 0.52 percent fall in the consumer price index (CPI), average real earnings from January to September were NT$48,343 in 2011 New Taiwan dollar terms, up 3.54 percent from a year earlier.
To track changes in household consumption patterns, the CPI statistics are rebased every five years.
