DOLE: Most of the unemployed are educated

MANILA, Philippines — Most of the country’s unemployed are educated, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

DOLE’s JobsFit 2022 Labor Market Information (LMI) Report showed that almost a million or 43.9 percent of the unemployed population nationwide in 2017 have either reached or graduated from high school.

The LMI Report also indicated that 825,000 unemployed are college undergraduates or have completed a college degree.

“Educated unemployment is a result of the increasing outward flow of labor from the country,” the DOLE said.

The agency also noted that jobseekers who are college undergraduates or graduates are less likely to get employed compared with jobseekers with lower level of educational attainment.

“Individuals (with higher educational attainment) have higher reservation wages and can afford to wait for better job offers,” it said.

The program or course that the college graduates completed may have also influenced the chance of finding employment, according to the DOLE.

Almost half of the unemployed are young adults or those belonging to the 15-24-year-old age bracket. The DOLE said most of the unemployed are entering the job market for the first time.