Unemployment worsened despite increase in jobs

THE country’s latest employment statistics again presented a mixed-picture and a policy paradox: While the economy generated more jobs in October, the unemployment rate nevertheless still worsened, the National Statistics Office reported Tuesday.

The unemployment rate rose to 7.1 percent in October from 6.8 percent recorded a year earlier, even though the employment rate improved by 2.7 percent, the agency said.

In absolute numbers, the pool of jobless Filipinos went up by 194,000 to 2.719 million from 2.525 million in October 2008. Still, October’s statistics were better than July’s 2.9 million unemployed.

On the positive side, employment rose to 35.477 million as of Oct. 31, up 2.7 percent or 944,000 from 34.533 million in the same comparable period, according to the statistics office’s quarterly Labor Force Survey.

Of those employed, 19.4 percent or 6.785 million were considered underemployed, compared with 17.5 percent or 6.029 million a year earlier. Still, the underemployment rate—underemployment being defined as less than 40 hours of work a week—was an improvement from the 19.8 percent reported in July, the statistics office said.

The rise in the unemployment rate may be attributed to the growing population, as there were 59.704 million Filipinos as of October who were at least 15 years old, the employable age, up 2.6 percent from 58.182 million a year earlier.

Out of the total employable ranks, 38.2 million were classified to be in the labor force, reflecting a participation rate of 64 percent, a slight increase from 63.7 percent the year before.

The services sector, which includes the wholesale and retail trade, motor vehicle repair, and personal and household goods, accounted for 51.5 percent of those employed.

Agriculture was the second largest employer, accounting for 34 percent, followed by the shrinking industry sector, 14.5 percent.

About 53.6 percent of those employed were classified as wage and salary earners, up from 51.9 percent. The government itself has been shrinking, employing only 8.1 percent of the working population.

The same quarterly survey said that proprietors and the self-employed constituted 34.5 percent of those employed, and 11.9 percent as unpaid family workers.

Around 62 percent or 22 million people were working full time and 36.3 percent were part-timers or underemployed. The underemployed in October was 19.4 percent or 6.9 million workers, the statistics office said.

It reported that 59.4 percent of the underemployed were “visibly underemployed,” working less than 40 hours in a week.

Of the underemployed, 46.4 percent were in agriculture, 38.5 percent in services, and 15 percent in the industry sector. –Roderick T. dela Cruz, Manila Standard Today