TAIPEI: The government intends to create 60,000-70,000 jobs between now and the end of year and is predicting a notable improvement in the unemployment picture by September.

Hsueh Cherng-tay, the Executive Yuan's "Minister without Portfolio", made the prediction after attending an inter-departmental meeting aimed at tackling the unemployment problem yesterday morning.

Existing government policies are expected to provide another 60,000-70,000 job opportunities till the end the of year, Hsueh said.

Based on the process of contracting for public infrastructure projects, jobs in construction and related sectors will increase markedly, he said.

An increase in unemployment is expected in August as newly graduated college students enter the employment market, Hsueh said.

Education authorities estimate that 40 percent of this year's 310,000 graduates from universities or colleges will be looking for jobs. The government is arranging 33,500 positions for them, Hsueh noted.

The "Ministry of Education" have found suitable candidates for 17,000 posts and the Council of Labor Affairs, 13,000.

With the economy bottoming out, the jobless rate will come down considerably, he said.

Another 17,629 college graduates have found positions through a government-sponsored internship program in cooperation with private enterprises.

There are another 10,000 positions in the program.

As for the wage subsidy program, under which an enterprise receives NT$10,000 monthly for six months for every new job it creates, 14,838 new positions were created between April and June as a result. And the program is expected to generate another 20,000 openings from August to December.

The Council of Labor Affairs also plan another 18 recruitment events before the end of the year, in the hope of finding an additional 5,000 jobs, he added.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 07/29/2009 page2)