Phl unemployment down to 7%

MANILA, Philippines - There were slightly fewer jobless and underemployed Filipinos in April this year compared to last year, data from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) showed.

Based on the April 2014 Labor Force Survey, unemployment rate dipped to seven percent in April from 7.6 percent in the same month last year, while underemployment dropped to 18.2 percent from 19.2 percent.

The NEDA-supervised Philippine Statistics Authority did not include data for Leyte, which was devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda in November last year.

“The agriculture, industry and services sectors all posted employment gains. This broad-based growth provides a good indicator of the quality of the country’s economic performance in the second quarter of 2014,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA director general Arsenio Balisacan said.

“This also backs the government’s target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent Gross Domestic Product growth for the full year,” he said.

But while the labor and employment situation has shown “a respectable improvement,” Balisacan said the “quality of employment remains a concern.”

He said the government should vigorously encourage investments so as to spur production and generate more stable-paying employment opportunities.

“To ensure that the labor and employment situation will continue to improve for the rest of the year, the timely implementation of programs is crucial,” he said. “These include strategies to further improve business climate, mitigate or cope with risks like El Niño, and facilitate linkages across sectors and regions,” he added.

The National Capital Region or Metro Manila continued to have the highest unemployment rate at 10.4 percent. Regions whose unemployment rates were higher than the national figure were Ilocos region (9.2 percent), Central Luzon (8.6 percent) and Calabarzon (nine percent).

More than half or 61.7 percent of those unemployed in April were males, data showed.

Also based on NEDA figures, total employment reached 38.7 million in April 2014, a 4.5-percent increase from 37 million a year ago.

The latest job data also translates to 1.7 million additional employed persons in April 2014.

The labor force participation rate (LFPR) increased to 65.2 percent in April 2014, from 63.8 percent a year ago.

“The increase in the LFPR could be partly due to greater seasonal influx of new graduates or vacationing students who are working and/or looking for new or summer employment,” he said.– Louella Desiderio