Employment prospects could look bright next year if the Philippines would be able to capture more of
the manufacturing investments flowing out of China and into neighboring countries, according to the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop).
“Employment could be sustained, if the trend will continue and the manufacturing continues to grow. Many factories are moving out of China because of the rising wage level. Unfortunately, the bulk of it is moving to Myanmar and Cambodia. Hopefully, we could attract them here, but the way to do that is to address electricity costs and stability of supply,” said Edgardo G. Lacson, president of Ecop, in an interview with reporters.
Lacson said agribusiness and manufacturing, aside from the business-process outsourcing sector that is already growing, are the biggest drivers of employment, and should be given focus next year.
Another factor that can fuel more jobs is the progress in the talks on the Bangsamoro region, and how the agreements between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front will actually lead to peace in the area.
Unemployment rate eased by 6 percent in October, reported the Philippine Statistics Authority early in December, from 6.4 percent over the same period in 2013. According to the National Economic and Development Authority, the 6-percent unemployment rate is the lowest the Philippines has seen in over a decade.
However, according to Lacson, whatever further boost in employment the country will enjoy in the fourth quarter of the year is an effect of seasonality;
as historically, employment always improves nearing the holidays.
The sustainability of the improving employment should be observed come the first quarter of 2015.
Employment figures can be improved, added Lacson, if the public-private partnership projects of the government are rolled out soon.
Based on the results of the October 2014 Labor Force Survey, the Philippine labor force stood at 41.3 million as of October 2014. Compared with year-ago level, the labor force grew by 2.3 percent, or an additional 925,000 people in the active work force.
Within the active labor force, the number of employed Filipinos increased by 2.8 percent year on year, increasing from 37.8 million to 38.8 million. The latest figure translates to a net gain, or employment generation, of 1 million, while the number of unemployed persons declined by 121,000 to 2.5 million in October 2014, pulling down the unemployment rate to 6 percent.
The PSA data showed employment grew the fastest in the industry sector at 5.1 percent (+294,000), largely on the back of the robust expansion in construction (12.6 percent, or 285,000). Manufacturing added 24,000 jobs, and mining and quarrying 3,000. Meanwhile, small losses were reported in electricity, gas, steam and air- conditioning supply, as well as in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities.