TAIPEI -- Taiwan's average unemployment rate in 2016 stood at 3.92 percent, up 0.14 percentage points from 2015, the island's statistics authority revealed Monday.

On average, 460,000 people were out of work in 2016, increasing 20,000 from the previous year, with about 70,000 unemployed for a long period of time, the authority said. The total workforce in Taiwan reached 11.72 million last year.

The highest unemployment rate was observed among those who had a junior college education or higher at 4.23 percent in 2016. In terms of age, the unemployment rate among young people ages 15 to 24 reached as high as 12.12 percent, it said.

In December, the unemployment rate was 3.79 percent, both down 0.08 percentage points compared with November and the same period in 2015.