3.1-M workers, mostly in farm sector, lose jobs due to El Niño

ABOUT 3.1 million workers, many in the agriculture sector, lost their jobs during the first four months of the year due to the severe drought brought by the El Niño weather phenomenon.  This number was 300,000 more than the 2.8 million who lost their jobs from January to April 2009.

Acting Labor and Employment Secretary Romeo Lagman said yesterday five regions reported increased unemployment compared with the January-to-April period in 2009.

Lagman said that based on the latest Labor Force Survey (LFS) data April 2010, the Western Visayas region experienced a 9.7-percent decrease in employment, or a 1.8-percent increase compared with the 7.9-percent figure registered in April 2009.  Most of the people who lost their jobs were in the farming sector.

Caraga region reported a 7.6-percent job-loss rate, or a 2.5-percent increase, compared with the 5.1-percent unemployment rate from January to April 2009. Davao region lost 6.3 percent of its work force, or a 0.1-percent increase, compared with 6.2 percent for the first four months of last year.

Cagayan Valley also experienced a 5.1-percent decrease in employment, or a 2.3-percent increase, compared with the 2.8-percent unemployment rate during the first four months of 2009.

In Eastern Visayas the unemployed rate decreased by 1.1 percent from last year’s 5.1 percent to this year’s 4.1 percent. This region was affected largely by the El Niño weather phenomenon, Lagman said.

More males were unemployed with 62.5 percent compared with the 37.5 percent of women who did not have work.

Lagman is optimistic that the employment situation in agriculture in the five regions is expected to improve.

“The trend is that farmers return to their farms during the rainy season. Thus, we expect that agricultural employment will be on the uptide,” Lagman said.

However, despite the global economic slowdown and El Niño, four regions in the country generated 449,000 jobs in the National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Central Visayas.

From the LFS data, Lagman noted that the NCR registered 187,000 more jobs followed by Central Visayas with 153,000, Calabarzon with 92,000 and Central Luzon with 17,000 jobs.

“The good performance of these regions as employment drivers greatly helped offset the loss in the agricultural sector, which was hit by the El Niño phenomenon,” Lagman said.

Overall, the acting labor secretary said there was a 1.2-percent increase in the number of employed persons in the country, or 35.411 million, in April 2010 from 34.997 million last year.

He said the robust growth in employment were in the services and industry sectors, which partly supported the 7.3-percent economic growth achieved during the year’s first quarter.

Lagman said the services sector expanded by 4.7 percent, or 882,000, while employment in the industry sectors, likewise, grew by a robust 7.8 percent, or more than 396,000.

The quality of employment also improved as the number of persons in full-time employment rose by 9.5 percent, or 1.892 million, while individuals in part-time employment fell by 9.6 percent, or 1.376 million. –Sara Susanne D. Fabunan / Correspondent, Businessmirror