Jobless Pinoys up by 300,000 – SWS

MANILA, Philippines – Unemployed Filipinos increased by 300,000 in the second quarter of this year even as optimism on job availability fell by 10 points in the same period, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in its recent survey.

The SWS poll, conducted from June 27 to 30, found the country’s jobless rate at 25.9 percent or about 11.8 million adults, slightly up from 25.7 percent or equivalent to 11.5 million recorded in the first quarter.

The jobless Filipinos were composed of 13.2 percent who voluntarily left their old jobs (up 1.8 points from March), 8.8 percent who were retrenched (down 1.9 points) and 3.6 percent first-time job seekers (barely changed from 3.3 percent).

Of those who were retrenched, 6.3 percent said their contracts were not renewed, one percent said their employers ended operations and 1.5 percent were laid off.

“Adult joblessness has traditionally been dominated by those who voluntarily left their old jobs and who lost their jobs due to economic circumstances beyond their control,” the SWS noted.

By gender, joblessness among women rose by 2.1 points to 39.9 percent, the highest since the 42.5 percent recorded in August 2012.

Unemployment among men, on the other hand, fell by 1.8 points to 14.7 percent, the lowest since the 14.3 percent recorded in June 2011.

By age, joblessness rose sharply by 19.4 points to 62.8 percent among the youth or those 18-24 years old. This was the highest since the 63.3 percent recorded in June 2008, the pollster said.

Joblessness was also higher by 4.7 points among those aged 25-34 (35.2 percent), the highest since the 45.4 percent recorded in March 2012.

However, unemployment dropped among those aged 35-44 by 12.6 points to 12.9 percent in June, the lowest since the 11.5 percent in September 2010.

It hardly changed among those aged 45 and above at 16.7 percent in the second quarter from the 16.5 percent in the first quarter.

The SWS recorded the highest unemployment at 34.2 percent in February 2009. It has been conducting the survey on joblessness since 2005.

Results of the SWS second quarter poll were published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday.

Meanwhile, optimism on job availability fell by 10 points to a “mediocre” +3 from the “fair” +13 recorded in the first quarter.

Thirty-two percent of respondents believe the number of available jobs in the next 12 months will increase (down from 36 percent), 29 percent (from 32 percent) said it would stay the same (from 32 percent) and 28 percent believe the number of positions available would decrease (from 23 percent).

SWS explained its definition of joblessness differs from the government’s unemployment measure.

SWS respondents are at least 18 years old compared to the government’s minimum age of 15.

The survey research institute said joblessness is based on two traditional qualifications: without a job at present and looking for a job. Hence, those not working but not looking for a job – such as housewives, retirees and students – are excluded.

The government’s Labor Force Survey, on the other hand, uses three criteria to identify the unemployed, namely: not working, looking for work and available for work.

According to the SWS, if the government’s availability criteria are applied in its survey, joblessness among adults in the second quarter was 15.2 percent or about 6.1 million Filipinos.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults. It had sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national percentages and six percentage points for Metro Manila, balance Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. –Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)