Unemployment rate drops to 7% in April

MANILA, Philippines – More Filipinos found jobs in the country’s main sectors in April, resulting in the drop in the unemployment rate to 7% from 7.6% last year, the government reported Tuesday, June 10.

The unemployment rate was equivalent to 2.9 million Filipinos, down from 3 million last year, the latest Labor Force Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.

The underemployed or those seeking additional jobs or work hours also fell to 18.2% from 19.2% in April 2013.

With the declines, the employment rate in April improved to 93% from 92.4% last year.

Citing the Labor Force Survey, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the number of employed Filipinos rose to 38.7 million from 37 million a year ago, as the agriculture, industry and services sectors all posted gains.

NEDA Director-General Arsenio Balisacan said the employment figures were “a good indicator of the quality of the country’s economic performance in the second quarter of 2014.”

He said the latest data would also back the government’s economic growth target of 6.5% to 7.5% this year.

“Worth noting is the strong contribution to employment growth of the industry sector, which was at par with that of agriculture,” Balisacan said.

Employment in the industry sector posted a 6.3% growth in April, translating to additional 374,000 jobs. The share of industry sector to total employment was 16.4%.

The services sector contributed more than half of the total workers employed, accounting for 52.8%. The level of employment in this sector increased 4.8% or by 929,000 workers from a year ago.

Majority of workers found a stable and remunerative work, Balisacan said.

The types of work that contributed the most to employment growth were wage and salary, own-account, and self-employed.

Most of the employed during the period were 15 to 24 years old, perhaps partly attributed to more youth helping their families during the summer in agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles, Balisacan said.

Balisacan, meanwhile, explained that the employment and labor data for the April 2014 survey round excluded Leyte, the province devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), thus no survey was conducted in the area.

“… [A] large number of households in Leyte were displaced by typhoon Yolanda. The old listing of households for Leyte used as sampling frame for the 2003 master sample is no longer usable.” 

The PSA excluded the labor and employment data of Leyte in the April 2013 survey round for it to be comparable, while a new sampling frame for the province was created, Balisacan said.

The labor force participation rate (LFPR) increased to 65.2% in April from 63.8% a year ago, partly due to greater seasonal influx of new graduates or vacationing students who were working and/or looking for new or summer employment.

The quality of employment remained a concern despite April’s improvement, the Balisacan said.

Considering the figures, the NEDA chief reiterated that the government must continue the multidimensional approach specified in the Updated Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016 to further improve labor market performance.

Further improving business climate, mitigating or coping with risks like El Niño, and facilitating linkages across sectors and regions are examples of strategies to encourage investments and improve productivity.

Income per capita in the country also needs to be sustained to spur the productive sectors of the economy and encourage the generation of more stable-paying employment opportunities.

“To ensure that the labor and employment situation will continue to improve for the rest of the year, the timely implementation of programs is crucial,” Balisacan said. – Rappler.com