Joblessness slightly falls to 24.8% – SWS

MANILA, Philippines — The number of jobless Filipinos slightly decreased in the third quarter of the year, but remains above pre-pandemic levels, according to a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The survey, conducted from Sept. 12 to 16 with the results released on Monday, showed that the adult joblessness rate in the country is at 24.8 percent of the labor force or an estimated 11.9 million Filipinos.

The figure went down by 2.8 points from the 27.6 percent (estimated 13.5 million) in June, but is still five points higher than the average of 19.8 percent joblessness rate in 2019 before the pandemic.

The SWS defines labor force as adults aged 18 years and above, who are presently with a job plus those looking for a job.

The jobless consist of those who voluntarily left their old jobs, are seeking jobs for the first time or lost their jobs due to economic circumstances beyond their control.

According to SWS, adult joblessness in the country reached a record-high 45.5 percent in July 2020 amid quarantine restrictions imposed to stop the pandemic.

It eased in the succeeding months, resulting in an average of 37.4 percent joblessness rate in 2020.

The decline in the latest joblessness rate was due to decreases in all areas except in the Visayas.

Joblessness is still highest in Metro Manila at 33.6 percent (down from 40.9 percent in June), followed by the rest of Luzon at 27.5 percent (down from 30.9 percent), the Visayas at 22.6 percent (up from 21.3 percent) and Mindanao at 16.4 percent (down from 19.2 percent).

It is also higher in urban areas at 30 percent (down from 30.7 percent) than in rural areas at 20 percent (down from 25.3 percent).

By gender, joblessness hardly changed among men at 19.3 percent (from 19.8 percent), while it fell among women at 32.3 percent (from 38.3 percent).

It is highest among the 18-24 age group at 55.5 percent (from 57.2 percent), followed by those aged 35 to 44 at 25.6 percent (from 23.9 percent), 24 to 34 at 24.6 percent (from 33.6 percent) and above 45 at 18.2 percent (from 18 percent).

In terms of educational attainment, joblessness is highest among high school graduates at 31.1 percent (from 28.7 percent), followed by college graduates at 24.8 percent (from 23.8 percent), elementary graduates at 18.7 percent (from 31.5 percent) and non-elementary graduates at 10.1 percent (from 15.9 percent).