ILO notes uneven job recovery

EMPLOYMENT in various economies, including the Philippines, recovered unevenly across sectors in the first half, and is expected to continue doing so till yearend, the Geneva-based International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a report released yesterday.

The ILO study, titled: “Jobs recovery: A global overview of employment trends and working conditions by economic activity,” tracked 13 job sectors across 51 developed and developing countries. The sectors were: agriculture, forestry and fishing; mining; manufacturing; utilities; construction; wholesale and retail trade; hotels and restaurants; transportation, storage and communication; financial intermediation; real estate, renting and business services; public administration; education and health.

The report noted, for instance, that while the manufacturing and construction industries worldwide lost 4.1 million and 3.5 million jobs, respectively, in the first half from the same period last year, the health sector added 2.48 million jobs in the same periods.

Moreover, job recovery in advanced economies were found to be “generally subdued” in some sectors, while the rebound in emerging economies “seems to be progressing more rapidly.”

“In 2010 the global economy seems to have entered into a new stage where divergence and volatility in a number of labor markets have significantly increased and uncertainty over the stability of the recovery remains high,” Elizabeth Tinoco, director of the ILO’s Sectoral Activities Department, said in a statement.

The report noted that the first half was marked by weak private consumption in developed economies, uncertainty of the impact of fiscal consolidation plans and jobless recovery in several sectors.

The report added that the global labor market outlook for the second semester “remains uncertain across all sectors,” noting that employers’ expectations for hiring were “more positive” in the Americas and Asia and the Pacific than in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Data for the Philippines showed that 11 sectors added jobs in the first half compared to the same period in 2009, namely:

* agriculture, forestry and fishing gained 705,600 jobs;
* manufacturing, 232,200;
* wholesale and retail trade, 224,600;
* public administration, 171,900;
* construction, 130,300;
* transportation, storage and communication, 116,300;
* education, 58,300;
* real estate, renting and business services, 36,100;
* health, 30,700;
* hotels and restaurants, 11,600; and
* utilities, 2,300.

Two sectors, however, witnessed job losses, namely:

* financial intermediation, 15,900 jobs lost; and
* mining, 23,200 jobs lost.

Sought for comment, Augusto B. Santos, deputy director-general of National Economic and Development Authority, said the figures highlight the need for more investments, both foreign and local, to generate more jobs. — Jo Javan A. Cerda, BUsinessworld