Number of jobless Pinoys increases to 7.1 percent - NSO

MANILA, Philippines - The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday that the number of jobless Filipinos increased to 7.1 percent in October from 6.8 percent last year.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), however, maintained that employment nationwide is improving despite the rise in the jobless rate.

Carmelita Ericta, NSO administrator, said results of the Labor Force Survey showed a growing number of unemployed as well as underemployed people.

There are an estimated 2.72 million unemployed workers in October 2009 while the number of underemployed persons – or those already employed but are looking for additional income – reached 6.9 million.

Ericta said the National Capital Region posted the highest unemployment rate at 11.8 percent, and most of the jobless people were male aged 15 to 24 years old.

Among the unemployed, high school graduates comprised more than one-third (34.7 percent), college undergraduates about one-fifth (21.7 percent), and college graduates, 18 percent.

“Underemployment rate was estimated at 19.4 percent, up from 17.5 percent last year and more than half or 59.4 percent of the total underemployed were reported as visibly underemployed or working less than 40 hours during the reference week,” Ericta added.

An NSO survey showed that the number declined in the proportion of employed persons from 93.2 percent in October 2008 to 92.9 percent in October 2009.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) posted the highest employment rate at 98.2 percent, followed closely by Cagayan Valley and Zamboanga Peninsula, both registering 97.2 percent. The NCR has the lowest at 88.2 percent.

But Labor Secretary Marianito Roque insisted that the employment situation has improved, considering the prevailing global financial crisis and other calamities that hit the country in the past months.

“We are actually doing better because the unemployment rate went down compared to the 7.6-percent in July. This means we are at the point of recovery from the financial crisis,” Roque explained.

Roque said the growth in the number of new entrants to the labor force as well as the twin typhoons that affected the country last September have to be factored into the survey.

“With the different crises that affected the country, the unemployment rate only increased by a little from last year and went down compared to the second quarter, so we should consider this as an improvement,” he pointed out. 

The NSO data showed that there are approximately 38.2 million persons in the labor force for a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 64.0 percent as compared to last year’s LFPR of 63.7 percent.

Of the estimated 35.5 million employed persons in October 2009, the services sector was the largest employer, getting more than half (51.5 percent) of the total employed population.

The highest employed workers in the services sector were wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods (6.9 million or 19.4 percent of the total employed persons).

The agriculture sector was the second largest employer, accounting for 34 percent of the total employed. Only 14.5 percent of the total employed were in the industry sector.

A majority (53.6 percent) of the total employed population in October 2009 are wage and salary workers, most of them (39.7 percent) working for private establishments. Those working for the government and state-owned or controlled corporations accounted for only 8.1 percent.

Wage and salary workers accounted for 51.9 percent while own-account workers, including proprietors and self-employed workers, constituted 34.5 percent of the total employed, with self-employed workers having the larger share (30.5 percent). 

Malacañang officials welcomed the latest unemployment figures and expressed hope that more workers would find employment as the global economy slowly recovers.

Presidential economic spokesperson Gary Olivar also said the Arroyo administration would continue implementing its emergency employment programs.

“The dip in unemployment is a welcome development and we hope will be harbinger of even more good news as the spreading of global recovery lifts more boats among our trading and investment partners,” Olivar said.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos earlier said the government will continue its pump priming activities but on a reduced scale next year to ensure the country meets its three-year deficit schedule while protecting the economy as the global economic crisis has yet to fully abate.

Santos said the stimulus spending is meant to create more jobs through various government projects until such time the private sector can take up the slack in unemployment.

“The Philippines has taken a conscious decision to continue but at a reduced scale. Stimulus (spending) is still there but we are still worried about our fiscal stability,” he said.     – With Paolo Romero