The number of people moving out of Greater Kaohsiung from January to October this year exceeded the number of people moving in by 1,059 people, making it the only one of the five special municipalities with a decreasing population. According to Greater Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Chen Mei-ya, this might be because of the local job market situation. The Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC) says that household registration statistics are not realistic, adding that unemployment has continued to decrease in Greater Kaohsiung over the past three years, meaning that the job market has actually improved.
During a plenary question-and-answer session of the city council last week, Chen said that according to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, 112,852 people moved to Greater Kaohsiung and 113,911 moved away from January to October. This loss of 1,059 people makes for negative population growth.
During the same period, Taipei’s population increased by 989 people, New Taipei City by 544, Greater Taichung by 6,313 and Greater Tainan by 623. Greater Kaohsiung was the only one to show a decrease.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者黃志源
Chen believes that young adults make up the majority of the people migrating out of Greater Kaohisung, and that this outflow of the workforce indirectly represents the municipality’s inability to keep local talent, exemplifying how the job market and unemployment situation have not improved. Relevant agencies should take this issue seriously, she says.
Statistics from the Greater Kaohsiung Government Civil Affairs Bureau show that after the former Kaohsiung County and Kaohsiung City merged, 142,276 people moved out during the first year, 140,381 in the second year, and 113,911 in the first 10 months this year. With a negative population growth of 1,579, 1,829 and 1,059 respectively, outward migration has shown a gradual decline each year, the bureau says.
The RDEC says that a large portion of the workforce moving in fails to change their household registration data, so the statistics are not representative of the actual situation. The local workforce surpassed 1.329 million people and unemployment was at 4.4 percent in the first year after the county and city merged. During the second year, the workforce was at 1.342 million and unemployment decreased to 4.3 percent. The numbers for the total workforce this year have yet to be released, but in the first half of the year unemployment had already gone down to 4.2 percent. The RDEC says that as the workforce increases and unemployment decreases, it means that the overall employment situation in Greater Kaohsiung is improving.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
Photo: Huang Li-hsiang, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者黃立翔
高雄市今年一至十月，遷入人口比遷出人口少1,059人，是五都之中唯一負數，引發市議員陳美雅質疑跟就業環境有關；研考會強調戶籍統計與實際有落差，高市失業率連三年下降，顯示就業環境改善。
市議員陳美雅上週在總質詢指出，根據內政部統計，高市今年元月至十月遷入人口共112,852人，遷出累計有113,911，減少1,059人，社會增加人數為負成長。
同時期，台北市多989人、新北市多544人、台中市多6,313人、台南市多623人，只有高雄市為「負數」。
陳美雅認為，遷出人口中可能有相當比例屬於青壯年，這些勞動力外移，間接代表高雄無法留住在地人才，凸顯就業環境、失業率等問題仍未改善，相關局處應正視。
高市民政局統計顯示，縣市合併後第一年遷出142,276人，第二年遷出140,381人，今年前十月遷出113,911人；社會增加人數各為負1,579、負1,829 、負1,059，遷出情況逐年緩和。
研考會則表示，許多勞動人口並未遷入戶籍，戶籍統計與實際勞動情況有落差，縣市合併後第一年勞動人口132萬九千餘人、失業率百分之四點四，第二年勞動人口134萬兩千餘人、失業率降為百分之四點三，今年勞動人口總數還未出爐，但上半年失業率再降至百分之四點二；勞動人口增加、失業率逐年下滑，顯示高市整體就業環境有進步。
（自由時報記者王榮祥）
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