Govt: ‘Quality of work continuously progressing’
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Thu, 07 Mar 2019 16:20:41 +0000
Unemployment, underemployment down in January
Fewer Filipinos were without jobs in January compared to a year earlier and the number of those looking for more work also improved, the government reported on Thursday.
Results of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) latest Labor Force Survey put the unemployment rate at 5.2 percent — described by the National Economic and
Development Authority (NEDA) as the lowest since 2009 — compared to 5.3 percent 12 months earlier.
Put another way, 2.28 million Filipinos were without work, down from 2.32 million in January last year.
Meanwhile, the underemployed —those already working but looking for additional jobs/longer working hours — went down to 6.44 million from 7.49 million previously.
In percentage terms, underemployment improved to 15.6 percent from 18 percent a year earlier.
“The overall improvements in the proportion of remunerative work and full-time employment, as well as the decline in underemployment and vulnerable employment, indicate that the quality of work in the country is continuously progressing,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said in a statement.
The NEDA chief said the government should remain committed to providing policies and programs conducive to creating more and better jobs. These include reducing the cost of doing business as well as more aggressive reductions in foreign investment restrictions, he added.
The PSA, in a separate statement, noted that unemployment was highest in the National Capital Region (6.3 percent), Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (6.3 percent) and Calabarzon (6.1 percent).
Men accounted for 64.4 percent of the unemployed while by age group those 15 to 24 years old comprised 43.7 percent, with 25- to 34-year-olds taking a 30.6-percent share.
A fifth or 20.9 percent of those without work were college graduates, 28.2 percent had completed junior high school and 8.2 percent were college undergraduates.
Meanwhile, the bulk of those with jobs were in the service sector (58.1 percent), followed by agriculture (22.1 percent) and industry (19.7 percent).
Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicle and motorcycles accounted for the largest share (33.6 percent) of workers in services while construction and manufacturing made up for 50.6 percent and 44.9 percent, respectively, of industry employment.
Of the total employed, wage and salary workers comprised 65.8 percent, followed by the self-employed (26.2 percent) and unpaid family workers (4.7 percent).
Full-time workers — those working 40 hours or more per week — accounted for 71.7 percent of those with jobs while 27.7 percent were part-time workers. A year earlier, these were at 63.6 percent and 35.2 percent, respectively.
As of the latest survey, workers were spending 43.2 hours at their jobs per week, up from 40.6 percent in January 2018.
Among those looking for more work, meanwhile, the “visibly underemployed” or those working less than 40 hours per week accounted for 51.1 percent, improving from 57.1 percent a year earlier.
“By sector, 48.0 percent of the underemployed worked in the services sector, while 32.0 percent were in the agriculture sector. Those in the industry sector accounted for 20.0 percent,” the PSA said.
Given the 72.5 million Filipinos aged 15 and over, the labor force participation rate dropped to 60.9 percent from 62.2 percent a year earlier, the agency noted.
FROM A REPORT BY ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES
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