Based on the latest National Statistics Office (NSO) Labor Force survey released on June 11, the number of jobless Filipinos increased “to a three-year high in April,” reported Philstar.com.
“…Unemployment reached 7.5 percent in April, up from 6.9 percent in the same period last year. The current unemployment rate was the highest since the eight percent recorded in 2010.”
This piece of news comes at a juncture when the Philippines was also reported to have achieved stellar economic growth in Q1 of 2013 — an impressive 7.8 percent, beating China in terms of a fastest-growing economy.
According to a text message from Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan (sent to Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III), the increase in joblessness can be attributed to the effects of scorching summer weather to agricultural productivity.
“It was reported that farmers delayed their planting in April. Unfortunately, the survey also was done in April. So, at the time they conducted the survey, there was a coincidence in the delay,” Pres. Aquino explained.
According to Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz, the increase in unemployment can also be attributed to the large number of fresh graduates joining the labor force.
Other highlights of the report include:
– The number of employed nationwide went down to 37.819 million in April from 37.840 million in the same period last year.
– The survey also showed that the number of jobless people in April ballooned to 3.086 million from 2.8 million last year.
– There were more males (61.4 percent) than females (38.6 percent) among the unemployed. Most of the unemployed belong to the 15 to 24 age group and are mostly high school and college graduates.
– The number of agricultural workers declined by 624,000 from 12.468 million in April 2012 to 11.844 million in April this year.
– Workers in the services sector remained the largest group, comprising more than half or 52.6 percent of the total, while workers in the agriculture sector comprised the second largest group, accounting for 31.3 percent of the total employed.
– Workers in the industry sector made up 16.1 percent.
However, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz observed that while the unemployment rate has increased, the good news is that the quality of employment has “significantly improved.”
“What is very encouraging in the results is the fact that the overall quality of employment continues to improve considerably, with persons in full-time employment growing by 15.3 percent, or 3.194 million, and persons in part-time employment decreasing by 18.9 percent, or 3.063 million,” Baldoz said.
“As a consequence, the mean hours of work has vastly improved from 39.2 hours a year ago to 41.8 hours in April 2013,” she added.
Baldoz also cited survey results, which showed an increase in wage and salary employment during the quarter (up by 619,000); a drop in the number of self-employed (down by 143,000) and unpaid family workers (down by 398,000).
“This tells us that the Millennium Development Goal indicator on employment to reduce poverty, in terms of the ratio of the self-employed and unpaid family workers to total employment, is narrowing; wage and salary and full-time employment is expanding; and mean hours of work is increasing,” she explained.
According to Baldoz, employment growth was notedly prosperous among private and government establishments, collectively expanding by 667,000 from a year earlier.
She also notes the decrease in underemployment — from 19.3 percent in 2012, to 19.2 percent in April 2013.
On the opposing end, UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations Professor Rene Ofreneo thinks that the government needs to work harder in order to create more jobs.
“The message of the statistics is clear. The economy is growing but it is not translating to jobs for the people. Not enough jobs are being created,” he told Philstar.com.
In order to achieve this, Ofreneo said that the government needs to focus its attention to the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, as well as address the high cost of power and rampant smuggling.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Assistant Director General Rosemarie Edillon advised the exploration of agricultural job diversification, which may entail focusing on the coconut industry.
“The coconut industry was the third highest employer in the agricultural sector in the ’80s. The industry weakened due to softening of global prices, natural disasters, lack of state support, and even negative political issues. Currently, coconut workers are among the lowest paid,” said Philstar.com.
While there are probably numerous other reasons/factors/conjecture behind this “disproportionate” relationship between economic growth and employment rate, what is important is that the government take the necessary steps to solve the problem. And the best way to start? By utilizing this economic growth to attract more investors.
More investors in the country means more jobs for Filipinos.
And while they’re at it, the government also needs to fortify the country’s labor force by prioritizing education and allocating a larger budget for it — not just in terms of infrastructure (i.e. more classrooms) but for program development as well.
(AJPress)
