PHL jobless rate slightly up to 7.3% in July — NSO

(updated 1:28 p.m.) The number of unemployed Filipinos slightly increased in July year-on-year despite strong economic growth in the second quarter, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported Tuesday.

The latest Labor Force Survey Tuesday showed a jobless rate of 7.3 percent in July 2013, slightly higher than the 7.0 percent reported in July 2012.

The July 2013 figure translates to roughly 3.002 million jobless Filipinos, compared with the 2.847 million recorded in the same month last year.

Balisacan said the latest survey shows that employment creation remains a big challenge in the country, said National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan noted in a separate statement e-mailed to reporters.

He emphasized the need to accelerate the revival of the manufacturing sector, which has the “highest backward and forward linkages with the other production sectors of the economy.”

Higher unemployment was due to losses in the accommodation and food service subsector, Balisacan said.

There were also declines in employment in manufacturing, mining and quarrying, water supply and sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, he added.

High school graduates accounted for majority of the unemployed at 32.8 percent, followed by college graduates at 21.8 percent, and college undergraduates at 13.6 percent.

“These figures stress the importance of intensifying government efforts to make education programs more responsive to the needs of the business sector as well as to encourage entrepreneurship in the country,” Balisacan said.

In the same comparable period, the employment rate slightly decreased to 92.7 percent from 93.0 percent — despite more jobs generated in the agriculture sector — because of the jobs lost in the accommodation and food service activities.

The number of employed Filipinos reached 38.2 million, a 1.7 percent increase from 37.6 million.

Some 620,000 jobs were created, a 38.4 percent increase from the 448,000 on the back of the recovery of agriculture.

The sector posted a 1.5 percent increase in employment, with agriculture and forestry subsector generating 116,000 additional employment and fishing taking in 57,000 more workers.

Services also helped drive up employment by 1.9 percent and construction by 4.3 percent.

According to NSO, labor force refers to the population 15 years old and over, whether employed or unemployed, who contribute to the production of goods and services.

Some 7.341 million employed Filipinos also want to work more hours or have additional jobs, reflecting the underemployment rate improving to 19.2 percent from 22.8 percent in July 2012.

Employment isn’t GDP growth

On August 29, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Secretary General Jose Ramon Albert said the gross domestic product expanded by 7.5 percent in the second quarter, above the 6 to 7 percent growth goal this year.

Balisacan said the figures, though quite contrary to expectations given the Philippine economy’s recent growth performance, are not entirely unusual.

“As the economy grows and its structure transforms, it is normal, as shown by experiences of other emerging economies, for employment to exhibit volatility as labor markets adjust,” he said.

“Some jobs are destroyed and new ones emerge in the course of structural transformation. But

while jobs are created, current skill sets of the labor force may not be able to meet the growing and shifting demand for labor,” he added.

In a text message to GMA News Online, University of Santo Tomas economics professor Alvin P. Ang said economic growth does not directly tanslate to employment growth.

“As we have been observing, employment and GDP structures are different. Growth has mostly been in services and manufacturing sectors, eluding sectors such as agriculture. But it also depends on the sectors that are growing in the short run,” he added.

Economics professor at the University of the Philippines and former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno he said in a separate text message the continuing rise in joblessness is proof that economic growth has not been inclusive.

“While the workforce has swelled by 802,000, only 620,000 jobs were created. The quality of jobs may have deteriorated too. The proportion of workers who worked in the agricultural sector has been constant despite the weak growth in the sector,” he added. — VS, GMA News