Taipei - Taiwan's economic woes are causing an increasing number of the island's residents to search for work in China, a job placement agency said Friday.

According to the 104 Job Bank, an average of 22,000 Taiwan job seekers a day contacted the placement agency in March, asking for for jobs in China, up 20 per cent from February and up 30 per cent year-on-year.

The figure is the highest since the human resources agency started operations in 1996.

In March the company could offer 5,300 jobs in China so far, one job for every four job seekers wishing to work in China.

All those jobs were provided by China-based Taiwan companies for which the placement centre serves as as online "matchmaker."

Taiwan's jobless rate hit a record 5.33 per cent in January, driven up by the global financial crisis.

Taiwan media reported on a growing number of people committing suicide after losing the jobs and running into debts. (dpa)