NEDA pushes job creation programs

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said policies and programs to create employment remain top priorities needing vigorous implementation.

NEDA Director General Augusto B. Santos said the government needs to simultaneously address the creation of employment opportunities for Filipinos and at the same time slow the growing underemployment rate.

Santos said the rise in employment in agriculture shows the effect of seasonality, i.e., the return of rain. He said dry season unemployment would be minimized by installing low-cost irrigation systems like shallow tube wells.

"The Department of Agriculture also does well in its drive to encourage the planting of white corn, a staple food that requires far less water than rice.

Production of white corn can grow by around two million metric tons if farmers plant it in the idle months of October to April," he explained, adding that these measures would ensure more employment in the rural sector.

It was also important to continue efforts to give solutions to investor concerns such as the fiscal problem, the quality of governance, infrastructure bottlenecks, and political stability.

"Mitigating measures to insulate workers from the adverse effects of global oil hikes are most urgent," he declared.

Figures from the July 2005 Labor Force Survey (LFS) indicate that with employment creation in the first three survey rounds of the 2005 LFS averaging only 553,300, employment creation must reach 2.5 million for the last quarter of 2005 (October 2005 round) to attain the target of at least 1.029 million to 1.256 million jobs created in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP).

Some 889,000 jobs were created as total employed persons increased from 31.63 million to 32.52 million year-on-year. However, the figure is lower than the 1.18 million employment generated in 2004 due to the recovery of the agriculture sector that year.

The agriculture, fishery and forestry sector recorded the biggest increase in employment generation (540,000) followed by the industry sector (66,000), which posted a modest recovery from the slump last year.

However, employment generation in the services sector declined to 282,000 from 602,000 last year amidst a series of oil price increases and the transport fare hike.

The NEDA chief said that employment in the service sector was buoyed by jobs in wholesale and retail trade, which increased by 163,000 compared to 392,000 a year ago.