Daily job losses decreasing, says DoLE

Local job losses daily declined to 397 this month, the lowest since January 2009, after several Filipino workers here and abroad were displaced by the global economic crisis, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said Monday.

In her report to DoLE, Teresa Peralta, officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), said the number of those joining ranks of the jobless daily was lower compared to 437 that was reported early this month.

She said the number of laid off Filipino workers totaling 50,380 outpaced the displacement figure in overseas employment of 6,405 during the same period.

Records of DoLE showed that the crisis has already affected the employment of a total of 109,529 Filipino workers in the country. Job losses and reduced work hours have been on the rise particularly in the manufacture of electronic products and garments.

Peralta explained that the more Filipino workers are temporarily losing their jobs and the rate for this is four times higher than those subjected to permanent displacement by their employers due to the downturn.

In overseas employment, the bulk of the laid-off OFWs reportedly still came from Taiwan with 4,197; United Arab Emirates, 1,357; Canada, 180; Macau, 169; Brunei, 112; and Korea with 104. Fewer OFWs were retrenched in Qatar, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

Despite the total displacements, labor officials said these are offset by at least 4,803 OFWs being deployed abroad on a daily basis.

The government says it has so far provided assistance to 29,073 Filipino workers or 26.5 percent of the total number of affected. The Calabarzon region accounted for the biggest number of workers assisted at 14,247.

DoLE allayed fears of Filipino workers who could still be affected by the displacement in the coming months, saying that it will provide them livelihood, training and job placement assistance in case layoffs cannot t be avoided.–RAYMUND F. ANTONIO, Manila Bulletin