Unemployment eases in October, says PSA

MANILA, Philippines — The number of jobless Filipinos went down in October as all economic sectors were able to create more jobs, but there are still indications that the quality of jobs must be improved, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Based on the preliminary results of the October 2019 round of the Labor Force Survey (LFS), the   PSA reported that the number of Filipinos aged 15 years old and above available for work has risen to 73.53 million from 71.89 million in the October 2018 round.

Out of this number, 45.20 million are in the labor force, higher than 43.53 million in the October 2018 round. This raised the labor force participation rate to 61.5 percent from 60.6 percent last year.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) attributed this to the increased participation of women in the workforce after four years of decline.

The employment rate rose to 95.5 percent from 94.9 percent last year, equivalent to 43.15 million Filipinos employed. This is the highest in all October rounds of the LFS since 2009.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell to 4.5 percent in the October 2019 round from 5.1 percent in the same period last year, the lowest in all October rounds in a decade. This translates to 153,000 less unemployed.

By economic sectors, the service sector remained the biggest employer accounting for 57.7 percent of jobs held during the reference period. Meanwhile, 18.9 percent of those employed were engaged in the industry sector and 23.5 percent were in the agriculture sector.

The country’s underemployment rate — the proportion of those already employed, but still seeking more work — also fell to 13 percent in the October 2019 round from 13.3 percent in October 2018.

Despite the reduction in the rate, the number of underemployed rose to 5.62 million from 5.5 million in 2018.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa attributed this to the increased labor participation rate.

NEDA Undersecretary Adoracion Navarro said the results of the survey reflect a vibrant labor market  “but the government must still continue to fasttrack the implementation of programs and policies that help create quality employment and improve productivity.”

She added that full implementation of recently enacted reforms, such as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act and the Revised Corporation Code, are essential in boosting employment creation by fostering micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) growth in the country.

Navarro said there is also a need to strengthen employment programs for the youth as around 3.5 million young Filipinos aged 15 up to 24 years old are neither working nor studying.

These include the Government Internship Program; the JobStart Philippines Program; and apprenticeship, learnership, and dual training programs. She said these would develop competencies and capabilities, including life skills and work ethics, to prepare the youth to join the workforce and thrive in a competitive world of work.

“It is also important to improve both the quantity and quality of work in line with the country’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 8 – decent work and economic growth – to achieve the country’s employment generation and underemployment targets,” Navarro said.

She also noted that the government remains on track with respect to four out of seven employment-related targets in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022.

The government is on track in terms of reducing the unemployment rate to 5.1 percent in 2019 which is within the medium term target range of 4.7 percent to 5.3 percent.

“Nonetheless, we still need to fasttrack strategic efforts for the other lagging indicators in order to achieve end-of-plan targets towards full and inclusive employment,” Navarro said.