TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s unemployment rate fell to 3.67% in 2022, its lowest rate in 22 years, the government said Wednesday (Jan. 18).

The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also announced the rate for December, which showed an 0.09% drop from the previous month to 3.52%.

The government department described the current situation of the labor market as “stable,” the Economic Daily News reported. Looking at cities and counties separately, all cities and counties in Taiwan showed an unemployment rate between 3.5% and 3.8%.

However, because the world seemed to be in the grip of an economic slowdown with the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, the DGBAS said it would closely monitor developments during the first months of 2023.

Earlier Wednesday, the department announced that Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.86% in the final quarter of 2022, pushing growth for the full year below 3% to 2.43%.