According to Hsin Ping-lung, a research fellow specializing in labor economics at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, unemployment last peaked in Taiwan in 1985 at 2.91 % but quickly fell to under 2 % by 1987, thanks in part to global economic recovery. The fact that Taiwan was well situated at that time to profit from the international division of labor also contributed to the drop in joblessness.
研究勞動經濟的中華經濟研究院研究員辛炳隆分析，台灣上一波失業潮出現在一九八五年，達到百分之二・九一。隨著全球景氣復甦，加上當時台灣經濟還能符合世界產業分工的情勢，所以失業率很快在一九八七年下降到百分之二以下。