Unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent in April

The Philippines’ jobless rate plunged to 8.3 percent in April, down sharply from 11.3 percent in January, the government said yesterday.

This left some 2.9 million from the labor force of 35.1 million without work, down from 4.03 million in January, the government’s National Statistics Office said in a statement.

The sharp drop surprised analysts.

"It is really too good to be true," said Ron Rodrigo of Accord Capital Equities Inc.

Rodrigo suggested that perhaps more young people were getting jobs earlier rather than pursuing higher studies but he questioned if these jobs were on a long-term basis.

"What the government is saying is that the economic performance of our country is really looking better," he said.

Labor Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas said the fall in unemployment was because "a lot of jobs were created in the service sector and this is from the wholesale and retail trading."

She also said more Filipinos were becoming entrepreneurs although she did not provide figures.

The jobless rate declined despite the government’s adoption of a new definition of unemployment, which now includes all persons who are at least 15 years old and reported as not working and currently available for work.

The previous definition of the unemployment rate included only those who said they were actively seeking work.

Persons employed in the services sector reached 16 million, while those in agriculture were estimated at 11 million. The balance of 5.2 million was employed in the industry sector.

The labor force participation rate, or the percentage of the working-age population that is in the labor force, stood at 64.8 percent.

Of the 2.9 million people without jobs as of April, 61.6 percent were male and 38.4 percent were female.

About 49 percent were aged between 15 and 24.

Some 28.3 percent of the unemployed were aged 25-34, while the rest were 35 years old or older.

A total of 1.3 million or 43.8 percent of the jobless received high school education, while 461,000 or 15.8 percent had only elementary-level education.

Some 1.1 million or 39.5 percent had a college-level education.