The seasonally adjusted jobless rate declined from 3.96 percent in April, the statistics bureau said yesterday. The median estimate of 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a drop to 3.94 percent. October's 3.84 percent rate was the lowest since February 2001.

Job gains may drive wages higher, stoking consumer spending and helping sustain Taiwan's economic expansion. The government last month raised its 2007 growth forecast to 4.4 percent from a 4.3 percent prediction in February.

"The service sector has been among the most active hirers," said Wenyen Fang, an economist at KGI Securities Co. in Taipei. "Banks are finally adding people again as they recover from the past two years of credit-loan defaults that hit their profits hard."

The Taiwan dollar rose to NT$32.754 per U.S. dollar at 3:59 p.m. in Taipei compared with NT$32.774 before Bloomberg published the figures.

Credit-card issuers such as Chinatrust Financial are adding more workers to regenerate business lost after incurring bad loans two years ago. Taiwan's fourth-biggest financial services company by market value said on April 23 it plans to hire 50 assistant managers this year.