NSCB proposes pay hike despite rise in joblessness

THE number of unemployed Filipinos rose 6.3 percent to 2.9 million in July from 2.7 million a year ago despite an increase in the number of jobs, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday.

The figure was also up from the 2.8 million jobless Filipinos counted in April.

But acting Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos noted that employment in the country rose 2.6 percent year-on-year in July, bucking the adverse effects of a global economic slowdown.

“The Philippine labor market remained resilient amid the global crisis. Employment in July 2009 grew by 2.6 percent, resulting in a total employment of 35.5 million,” Santos said.

He said there was a net employment of 916,000 in July, although this was 28.2 percent lower than the 1.3 million net employment a year ago.

“There should be no respite in channeling the government’s multi-pronged efforts toward a better quality of the labor force in the midst of early indicators that the global crisis is winding down,’’ Santos said.

“The country should be ready for the race to the rebound, where competitiveness matters”

But a wage increase in the private sector would be needed to prevent more Filipinos from joining the ranks of the poor, said Ramon Virola, secretary general of the National Statistical Coordination Board,

The wage increases in the government had outpaced inflation, but the same could not be said for private employers, Virola said.

Incomes must rise faster than inflation to hold poverty in check.

In its latest quarterly Labor Force Survey, the statistics office said the jobless rate climbed to 7.6 percent in July compared with 7.4 percent in the same month last year. The unemployment rate stood at 7.5 percent in April.

“The latest survey also revealed the current employment rate at 92.4 percent,’’ the agency said.

“Last year’s employment rate was 92.6 percent,” said the agency, which conducts its quarterly survey in January, April, July and October and releases the results two months later.

Unemployed people are those 15 years and over who are without work but available for work, according to the new definition adopted by the National Statistical Coordination Board in October 2004.

The National Statistics Office said there were 35.5 million employed people in July 2009.

Around 23 million or 64.9 percent of the employed were working full time in July 2009, while 34.1 percent worked less than 40 hours a week.

Among the employed Filipinos, about seven million were said to be underemployed, or those who expressed the desire to have extra hours of work in their jobs or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours.

That translated to an underemployment rate of 19.8 percent, down from 21 percent a year ago.

Of the estimated 59.5 million population 15 years old and over in July 2009, about 38.4 million were considered to be in the labor force.

The National Statistics Office said the services sector led the growth in employment with a 5.4- percent increase over a year ago, with 939,000 additional jobs.

Industry generated 137,000 jobs in July 2009, posting a 2.7- percent growth. Employment generation in construction (128,000) and mining and quarrying (22,000) boosted employment in these sectors, but employment fell in manufacturing (-12,000) and utilities (-1000). Roderick T. dela Cruz, Manila Standard Today