Joblessness worse, but job quality better

Businessworld, Mar 15, 2017

THE RANKS of those employed but who were seeking more work thinned to a record low in January, according to official data released yesterday that nevertheless showed the employment rate at its lowest and unemployment at its highest in two-and-a-half years.

The government yesterday reported that the numbers of those with jobs fell in January, “partly due to the recent typhoons that affected the agriculture sector” — particularly citing Nina (known internationally as Nock-ten) and Auring that struck in December and January, respectively — as well as work related to the May 2016 elections that buoyed that year’s numbers.

The January 2017 Labor Force Survey (LFS) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed employment rate down to 93.4% from 94.3% a year ago and October 2016’s 95.3%.

“This translates to 39.3 million employed Filipinos, which is 1.34 million or 3.3% lower than in January 2016,” the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said in a statement.

January’s rate matched that of January 2015 and was the lowest since July 2014’s 93.3%.

The unemployment rate worsened to 6.6% from a year-ago’s 5.7% and the 4.7% recorded in October last year.

The latest unemployment rate similarly matched that of January 2015 and was the worst since July 2014’s 6.7%.

“We mainly observe the employment losses in the agriculture sector, which has been greatly affected by typhoons Nina and Auring that hit our country last December and January,” NEDA quoted its director-general, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, as saying.

Agriculture, which accounted for second-biggest share of total employed after services (57.1%) at 25.5%, shed an estimated 882,000 jobs “or two-thirds of employment losses,” NEDA noted.

Mr. Pernia also attributed worsened unemployment partly to temporary election-related jobs that buoyed 2016 data. “This was also observed in January 2011, a year that followed the 2010 elections,” he said in the statement.

The latest data, however, bared a silver lining in the form of record-low underemployment rate, involving those employed who wanted more hours of work, an additional job, or a new job with longer hours.

The underemployment rate came in at 16.3% (6.398 million) in January that compared to a year-ago’s 19.6% and October 2016’s 18%.

It was also the best since April 2005, when the government adopted a new unemployment definition for its LFS.

For Rene M. Ofreneo, professor at the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations, January’s underemployment record showed job quality — a nagging problem despite surging economic growth — improved, noting that “underemployment ay usually measure ng poor-quality jobs.”

The five of the country’s 18 regions that bared unemployment rates that were worse than the national 6.6% in January were: Metro Manila (8.5%), Ilocos Region (8.7%), Central Luzon (6.7%), CALABARZON (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon region just below Metro Manila at 8.2%), MIMAROPA (Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan at 6.9%) and Caraga in northeastern Mindanao (8.5%).

The nine regions with underemployment rates worse than the national 16.3% were Eastern Visayas (23.2%), SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato-Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Sarangani-General Santos City) in south-central Mindanao (21.3%), MIMAROPA and Bicol each with 20.8%, Ilocos (20.4%), Northern Mindanao and Caraga each with 18.9%, Western Visayas (18.1%) and Cordillera Administrative Region (17.3%). — with inputs from D. M. Uy