Jobless economic recovery in RP in first quarter

THE number of jobless Filipinos hit a two-year high in April despite the better-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter, lending credence to criticisms that the Philippines’ early recovery from the global downturn was not so impressive.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) said the unemployment rate rose 8 percent to 3.1 million Filipinos, higher than the 7.5-percent jobless rate recorded in the same period last year.

In April 2008, the unemployment rate stood at 8 percent.

The latest jobless figure came weeks after the release of economic data showing the country’s gross domestic product grew a surprising 7.3 percent in the first quarter of the year, from 0.5 percent in the same period last year.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos blamed the higher unemployment rate on the economic downturn.

“The second factor is the increase in the labor force is more than what the economy can absorb. There is new employment but the number employed is less than what was generated by the labor force because of the increase in population,” he said.

Benjamin Diokno, a former Budget secretary who teaches economics at the University of the Philippines, said the latest jobless figure “reflects conditions in April, not during the first quarter.”

“But jobs in agriculture sector contracted by 7.3 percent, which could mean a sharper drop in the sector in the second-quarter,” he said.

“[The] jobs market is more serious than what the numbers suggest because it includes jobs from pump-priming projects and those that are election-related,” he said, referring to one-time employment gains arising from the government’s fiscal spending to arrest the global downturn and El Niño, as well as from the May polls.

The NSO said the country’s labor force numbered 38.5 million out of the estimated 60.6 million population ages 15 years old and over. This translates to a labor force participation rate of 63.6 percent.

The agency said the underemployed workers or those who want to work longer hours dropped to 17.8 percent from 18.9 percent in April last year.

The employment rate fell slightly to 92 percent in April this year from 92.5 percent in the same period last year.

Of the total 35.4 million employed persons in April, 52 percent worked in the services sector, while 32.5 percent were employed in the agriculture sector.

Employed Filipinos in the industry sector accounted for 15.5 percent.

Among the various occupation groups, the NSO said laborers and unskilled workers predominated at 32.2 percent of the total employed persons in April.

Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen comprised the second largest group, accounting for 15.6 percent of the total employed. –DARWIN G. AMOJELAR Senior Reporter, Manila Times