Jobless rate grows to 7.6% in July — NSO

The unemployment rate jumped more sharply than expected in July to 7.6 percent, with 2.9 million Filipinos out of work, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said yesterday.

The government had previously forecast that only 2.7 million people out of a labor force of 38.4 million would be jobless, the NSO said in a statement.

The unemployment rate in July was up from 7.5 percent in April, when the statistics office last released jobless data.

NSO data showed the services sector now accounts for about 52 percent of employed persons in July this year, from 50.2 percent a year ago.

The sector includes workers in wholesale and retail trade; hotels and restaurants; transport, storage and communication; financial intermediation; real estate, renting and business activities; public administration; education; health and social work; community activities; private households and extra-territorial bodies.

The agriculture and industrial sectors correspondingly accounted for 33.6 percent and 14.8 percent of the country’s employed persons.

Agriculture’s employment share this year is lower than the 35 percent it posted a year ago.

The industrial sector’s employment share remained unchanged from last year, however.

Industrial workers are found in mining and quarrying; manufacturing; electricity, gas and water as well as construction.

Across regions, the National Capital Region (NCR) posted the highest jobless rate at 12.1 percent and the lowest was in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) at 3.4 percent.

Of the estimated 59.5 million population 15 years old and over in July 2009, about 38.4 million people were reported to be in the labor force. This translates to a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 64.6 percent as compared to last year’s LFPR of 64.3 percent.

The number of underemployed persons in July was estimated at seven million, placing the underemployment rate at 19.8 percent. More than half, or 54.5 percent, of the total underemployed were reported as visibly underemployed or working for less than 40 hours during the reference week.

Those working for 40 hours or more accounted for 43.9 percent of the total underemployed. Most of the underemployed were working in the agriculture sector, 44.1 percent, and services sector, 40.3 percent. The underemployed in the industry sector accounted for 15.6 percent.

The number of unemployed persons was higher among males, 60.7 percent, than among females, 39.3 percent. By age group, for every 10 unemployed persons, five belonged to age group 15 to 24 years while 28 percent of the total unemployed were in the age group 25 to 34.

Across educational groups, among the unemployed, the high school graduates comprised more than one-third, the college undergraduates comprised about one-fifth, while the college graduates, 19.7 percent. –Daily Tribune