Jobless Pinoys hit 12.1 M – poll

MANILA, Philippines - The number of jobless Filipinos went up by 2.5 million in the last quarter of 2013, according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The SWS poll found the country’s unemployment rate rising to 27.5 percent, equivalent to an estimated 12.1 million adult Filipinos in December last year from 21.7 percent (estimated 9.6 million) three months earlier.

The survey was conducted from Dec. 11 to 16, using face-to-face interviews of 1,550 adults nationwide.

SWS said 13.5 percent of the jobless adults resigned, 10.4 percent were retrenched and 3.5 percent were first-time jobseekers.

Retrenched Filipinos were comprised of 6.8 percent whose contracts were not renewed, 1.6 percent whose employers closed shop and two percent who were laid off.

“Adult joblessness has been traditionally dominated by those who voluntarily left their old jobs and those who lost their jobs through economic circumstances beyond their control,” the SWS said.

The SWS said unemployment rose almost everywhere.

Joblessness was 21.2 percent among men (from 13.4 percent) and 35.9 percent among women (from 32.4 percent).

By age group, unemployment was basically unchanged among the youth, or those 18-24 years old, at 52.3 percent from 52.4 percent.

It increased by over nine points to 25 percent among those 35-44 years old, 33.1 percent from 24.6 percent for the 25-34 bracket, and 17.7 percent from 14.2 percent among those aged 45 and above.

The latest unemployment figure released by the government was 6.5 percent or 2.6 million Filipinos, the SWS said.

The SWS’s definition of joblessness differs from that used by the government.

Its respondents are at least 18 years old, compared to the lower official boundary of 15.

People with jobs are those currently working, including unpaid family members.

Applying the government’s definition, the SWS said the jobless rate among adults 18 years old and above would be 17.1 percent or about 6.6 million Filipinos.

Results of the SWS fourth quarter survey were published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday.

Meanwhile, optimism that work would become available this year increased to “fair” from “mediocre,” according to the SWS.

Forty percent of the respondents see more job opportunities this year, 31 percent said it would stay the same and 21 percent believe the number of positions available would shrink, leading to a net optimism score of +19, a 15-point improvement from September’s +4.

This was the highest since November 2010 when it was a “very high” +36, the pollster said.

The survey has sampling error margins of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for national, plus or minus four percentage points for the Visayas and plus or minus six percentage points for Metro Manila, balance Luzon and Mindanao.