The country’s unemployment rate is seen to drop further to as low as 5.5 percent in the next three years, if the economy would continue growing by at least 6 percent.
Ateneo de Manila University’s Fernando T. Aldaba told the BusinessMirror that the reduction in the number of jobless Filipinos was a result of the shift in the country’s economic expansion to a higher growth trajectory.
“We’ve been growing consistently since 2012, that’s why there’s an impact on employment. This will further improve as long as we grow 6 percent in the next three years, which is what’s expected,” Aldaba said. On Thursday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) disclosed that the country’s unemployment rate dropped considerably to 6.6 percent in January 2015, from 7.5 percent in January 2014.
The PSA’s Labor Force Survey data also showed that the country’s underemployment rate fell to 17.5 percent in January 2015, from 19.5 percent in the same period in 2014.
“For this period, the number of underemployed persons contracted among wage and salary workers, as well as self-employed workers, which possibly means greater availability of more remunerative jobs and more profitable ventures,” National Economic and Development Authority Director General and Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.
“From employment gains to reductions in unemployment and underemployment, the labor market is becoming robust, and we hope that this will continue and further benefit the poor, especially as the economy grows faster at a higher trajectory,” he added.
Aldaba, however, said bringing down the country’s unemployment numbers to 5.5 percent in three years is still not enough to place the Philippines on a par with its Asean peers.
He said Asean countries like Malaysia and Thailand have an unemployment of about 3 percent, significantly lower than the country’s jobless rate.
Further, the PSA’s recent poverty data showed there was an increase in the country’s poverty rate in the first semester of 2014.
Data showed that poverty incidence among Filipinos in January-to-June 2014 was higher than the 24.6-percent level posted in the same period in 2013.
These results were supported by a nationwide survey conducted by Ibon Foundation Inc. in January 2015, which showed that most Filipinos still think the economy worsened under the Aquino administration.
The survey results showed that 7 out of 10, or 71.7 percent, of the respondents said they don’t think that there is less poverty in the country in the past three months.
Ibon also said 50.7 percent of the respondents believe the economy remained the same and 21.5 percent said it got worse.
“The recent report on poverty highlighted the impacts of high food prices mostly to low-income families. Our significant strides in poverty reduction through better quality jobs and higher incomes must move forward along with cheaper food prices. Elevated rice prices are of particular concern, as rice takes up about 20 percent of the budget of the poor,” Balisacan said.
“Relatedly, the government must continue its efforts to create a more supportive business environment, allowing the private sector to create more and better jobs,” he added.
PSA data showed 62.2 percent of the employed population were full-time workers.
Underemployed persons, who work for less than 40 hours in a week, are called visibly underemployed persons. They accounted for 60.7 percent of the total underemployed in January 2015.
Among the unemployed persons in January 2015, 66 percent were males. Of the total unemployed, the age group 15 to 24 years comprised 47.3 percent and the age group 25 to 34, 31.6 percent.
By educational attainment, 20.4 percent of the unemployed were college graduates, 13 percent were college undergraduates and 34.4 percent were high-school graduates.
1 comment
The 5.5% jobless rate in 3 years is only possible if a good president is elected in 2016 otherwise, back to 2010 level or worse. Even the PSE index will dive by 20% to 30% if a person of “bad moral character” is voted to office in 2016. The industry prime movers know a rotten apple even from a distance.