Unemployment up this year despite strong economic growth

UNEMPLOYMENT likely worsened this year, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said in Friday, with strong economic growth apparently not having led to more job opportunities.

The NSO, utilizing data from its January, April and July survey rounds, placed the 2013 jobless rate at 7.3%, up from 7% a year earlier.

Results from the Labor Force Survey for October were excluded.

A total of 2.994 million out of the work force of 64 million Filipinos aged 15 and above were said to be without work, up from 2.826 million in 2012. This was despite the 7.4% economic growth — higher than the official 6-7% goal — seen as of September.

Benjamin E. Diokno, economist at the University of the Philippines (UP), described the above-target economic growth as “not inclusive”.

“The joblessness situation could remain basically unchanged … more people are joining the labor force than the number of jobs the economy is able to create,” he said.

Rene E. Ofreneo, professor at the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations, said economic growth had yet to translate to quality jobs.

“The nature of growth that we have is not job-creating … agriculture modernization is not moving because of continued uncertainties in agrarian reform, lack of investment in infrastructure and natural disasters like typhoons,” he said.

Those with jobs, the NSO estimated, numbered 37.978 million this year, 378,000 more than the 37.600 million recorded in 2012.

Of the employed, over half were in the services sector, whose share rose to 53.4% from 52.6%. Agriculture accounted for 30.9%, down from 32.2%, while industry’s share inched up to 15.7% from 15.3%.

By occupation, laborers and unskilled workers comprised 32.6% of the employed; government and private sector workers, 16.2%; farmers, forestry workers and fishermen, 13.0%; and service workers and shop/market sales workers, 12.3%.

Wage and salary workers comprised 58.6% of the employed, up from 57.2% a year ago.

Underemployment, meanwhile, eased to 19.8% from 20% a year earlier, the NSO said. The underemployed comprise those who have jobs but are looking for more work. –Businessworld