Jobless rate down to 7%

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s jobless rate eased to 7 percent in April 2014, down from the 7.6 percent posted the same period last year, the Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) announced on Tuesday.

Citing data from the April 2014 Labor Force Survey (LFS), PSA noted that among the unemployed in April 2014, more than half or 61.7 percent were males. Those belonging in the 15-24 age group made up 49.8 percent of the total jobless persons, while those in the 25-34 age group accounted for 30.5 percent.

“By educational attainment, one-fifth (22.4 percent) of the unemployed were college graduates, 14.5 percent were college undergraduates and 32.7 percent were high school graduates,” the state agency added.

The labor force participation rate, consisting of the employed and the unemployed, stood at 65.2 percent in April 2014, up from the 63.8 percent in April 2013. The employment rate stood at 93 percent in April 2014 excluding Leyte. With the province included, it was estimated at 92.4 percent. Underemployment, meanwhile, dropped to 18.2 percent from the 19.2 percent posted last year. Workers in the services sector comprised the largest proportion of the population who were employed, the state agency said.

Among the regions in the Philippines, four posted employment rates lower than the national average. These are the National Capital Region (89.6 percent), Ilocos Region (90.8 percent), CALABARZON (91 percent) and Central Luzon (91.4 percent), PSA said.

PSA said the April 2014 LFS did not include employment data from Leyte, because of the large number of households displaced by typhoon Yolanda last year. The 7.6-percent jobless rate in April 2013 also excluded data from the typhoon-ravaged province to make the estimates comparable. Including Leyte, the April 2013 unemployment rate was estimated at 7.5 percent, PSA noted. –Jovan Cerda (philstar.com)