Slight improvement on CV employment rate noted

CEBU, Philippines - Employment rate in Central Visayas recorded a slight improvement in July of this year to reach 92.9 percent, from 92.5 percent in January of this year.

This is due to the sustained growth of the regional economy that made a positive impact on employment rate in the region, a report from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA-7) indicated.

The employment rate in July this year however was lower than the 93.7 employment rate recorded in July of last year.

According to the report, there is a need for the region to work harder in generating employment in the succeeding quarters in order to achieve the plan target of an employhment rate in 2012 at least 93.5 percent.

Compared to the national averages, the employment rate of the region in January 2012, April 2012 and July 2012 were slightly lower.

In the January, April and July 2012 surveys of the labor force, the  average employment rates of the country were 92.8 percent, 93.1 percent, and 93.0 percent, respectively.

The region posted employment rates during the said months of 92.5 per cent, 92.8 percent, and 92.9 percent, respectively.

Underemployment, meanwhile, remains a challenge in Central Visayas. Although the proportion of underemployed workers to the total number of employed workers in the region decreased in July 2012 to hover at 21.4 percent from 22.4 percent in April 2012, it remains high at more than 20 percent, higher than the January 2012 rate of 20.5 percent.

Last year’s July underemployment rate of 18.8 percent was in fact better than the July 2012 rate.

Compared to the national underemployment rate, Central Visayas’ rate has been on an upward trend since July 2010. 

The region’s rate has been higher than the national for the last four surveys of the labor force. While the country’s underemployment rate remained below 20 percent, the region’s rate continued to hover above 20 percent since October 2011.

Meanwhile, prices of commodities in Central Visayas started to pick up in April 2012 after registering a decreasing trend since the second quarter of last year.

The region’s inflation rate from January to August 2012 averaged 4.1 percent. This is higher than the national average of 3.1 percent during the same period. — (FREEMAN)