Taipei - Taiwan's jobless rate skyrocketed to 5.75 per cent to a record high in February, as sharply reduced global demand seriously battered the local manufacturing industry, a government agency said Monday.

Some 624,000 Taiwanese were officially classified as out of work, 46,000 more than in January, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a press statement.

The grim unemployment condition in February came after Taiwan's jobless rate surged past the 5 per cent level since December to a seasonally adjusted 5.01 per cent, the agency said.

The island's jobless rate has been rising for 14 consecutive months, it said.

Agency officials cited the global economic downturn, which resulted in the closure and streamlining of local companies, as the major reason for the sharp increase in job losses.

They said compared with the same period last year, the number of unemployed increased by 200,000. Overall, some 7.32 million people were affected because of the unemployment by their relatives, some of whom were the sole supporters in the families, the officials said. (dpa)