MANILA – Adult joblessness has increased during the first quarter of 2018 influenced by resignations, involuntary job loss and first-time job seekers according to a Social Weather Stations Survey released Tuesday.

The survey conducted from March 23 to 27 showed adult joblessness rose to 23.9 percent or 10.9 million from 15.7 percent or 7.2 million in December 2017. This is the highest recorded adult joblessness since December 2016, SWS said.

The joblessness rate is composed of 12.6 percent or 5.8 million adults who voluntarily left their jobs, 7.7 percent or 3.5 million who lost their jobs and the 3.5 percent of 1.6 million new job seekers.

The survey conducted with 1,200 respondents also found that there was a decrease in the adult labor force participation with the rate down at 71.4 percent or 45.8 million from 72.1 percent of 45.5 million in December 2017.

Workforce job optimism or the number of people who think there would be "more jobs" in the next 12 months decreased, with 49 percent in March from 53 percent in December 2017, the survey said.

Pessimists who answered there will be "fewer jobs" remained at 12 percent, while 25 percent answered there will be "no change" in job availability, SWS said.

SWS downgraded the net optimism on job availability score to +37 “very high” in March 2018 from +41 excellent in December 2017.

SWS said joblessness increased in all areas nationwide except in the National Capital Region where the number decreased to 19.0 percent from 19.5 in December 2017 and 24.9 in March 2017.

Joblessness also increased in both rural and urban areas in March 2018 compared to December 2017, to 22.8 percent from 17.2 percent and 24.8 percent from 14.6 percent respectively.

Among women joblessness increased to 33.9 percent from 26.7 percent while joblessness in men also rose to 16.1 percent from 7.6 percent for the same period, the survey showed.

When it comes to age, joblessness in workers from 18 to 24 years old rose to 53.1 percent from 45.0 percent. For 25 to 34-year-olds, the number increase to 26.6 from 23.9 percent or below 30 percent for 3 consecutive years, SWS said.

The March 2018 Social Weather Survey was conducted from March 23-27, 2018 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide. The survey had sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.