‘Renewed confidence in Phl improves employment rate’

MANILA, Philippines – Renewed confidence in the Philippine business climate has improved employment and reduced unemployment and underemployment figures in 2010, according to President Aquino.

Aquino said he considered job creation and unemployment reduction as the biggest achievement in the first six months of his administration.

He made the statement after signing the 2011 budget on Monday.

When he assumed the presidency, Aquino said he met local and foreign investors who had renewed their enthusiasm for and optimism in the Philippines, particularly in the booming business process outsourcing industry.

“Our slogan that the Philippines is now open again for business seems to have taken hold,” he said.

“Business processing outsourcing companies have already started and they have been actually doing recruitment that has made some impact on both the employment and underemployment figures.

“Everybody that I talked to, both local and foreign, talked about the renewed and enthusiastic and optimistic way they look at the Philippines.”

For 2010, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has reported that employment figures generally improved as job creation reached 983,000; unemployment rate was lower at 7.3 percent compared to 7.5 percent in 2009; and underemployment rate improved to 18.7 percent from 19.1 percent last year.

NEDA Secretary-General Cayetano Paderanga said the continued improvement in the level of confidence in the Philippines and the implementation of necessary reforms would greatly contribute to the creation of more and quality employment for Filipinos in the years to come.

Paderanga said NEDA was expecting the full-year gross domestic product growth to likely surpass the five to six percent target for 2010, to seven to eight percent this year.

For 2011, the country was expecting more modest growth with the absence of election spending and the still quite fragile global economic recovery, he added.

However, Paderanga said the right policies and continued confidence were expected to help achieve the government interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee’s real GDP growth target of seven to eight percent and a real gross national product growth target of nine to 10 percent.

“With the Aquino administration focusing on improving the lives of Filipinos, we are aiming for high sustained growth. The targets that have been set will sharply reduce poverty incidence and increase per capita income,” Paderanga said. –Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star)