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THE
current food and fuel crises that have slowed down the
economy have now left their mark on the ranks of the
unemployed, increasing their number to about 2.9 million
in April or an increase to 8 percent from the 7.4
percent in the same period last year.
While
unemployment and under-employment increased, the number
of the employed was almost the same as last year (36.4
million), indicating the unemployed are almost all new
entrants; and the rise in underemployment also owes to
the economic slowdown.
Of the
estimated 57.7 million population of those of working
age, i.e., 15 years and over, in April 2008, 36.4
million are in the labor force.
National
Statistics Office data for the unemployed, by region,
put the National Capital Region at the top of the list
with the highest increase in joblessness to bring it to
13.8 percent, with Calabarzon to 10.3 percent and
Central Luzon to 10 percent.
The
underemployed also increased, percentage-wise, in April
to 19.8 percent of those employed, which is higher than
last year’s 18.9 percent.
National
Planning and Policy Staff OIC-Director Myrna Asuncion of
the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)
said the almost flat growth in the employment figures
reflected the economic slowdown in the first quarter.
Asuncion
said the data showed that employment in the
manufacturing sector slid to 14.9 percent of the total
employed nationally from 15.6 percent in the similar
period last year. This was the only industry that
recorded a decline in employment. Jobs in agriculture
and services increased to 35.5 percent and 49.6 percent
of the total, respectively.
Asuncion
pointed out that last year’s numbers may also be due to
the fact that 2007 was an election year and some of the
employment growth in the same period last year may be
due to jobs that were related to the elections.
While
Asuncion could not be sure that unemployment will be
reduced and will show in the second quarter of the Labor
Statistics Survey (LSS), she noted that results could be
better since the July LSS traditionally shows
improvement in the labor front compared with the
first-quarter survey.
Meanwhile, Malacañang said the higher unemployment rate
in April apparently included the graduates who joined
the Philippine labor force in late March.
“The
April 2008 data is understandably higher since it can
include the 2.9 million fresh graduates churned out by
schools during later March. But it’s good also to know
that the employment rate at that period stands at 92
percent, almost the same recorded in April 2007 at 92.6
percent,” Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said in a
statement.
Deputy
presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said in
another statement that following the increase in
unemployment figures to 8 percent in April from 7.4
percent a year ago, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque has
directed all regional offices of the Department of Labor
and Employment (DOLE) “to closely monitor the employment
situation in their respective areas of jurisdiction.”
Roque
also instructed the DOLE offices to “initiate
interventions and safety nets due to the weakening of
the labor market brought about by increasing fuel prices
that weighed down the country’s economic growth in the
early part of the year.” |
