Unemployment, underemployment climb in July from June | ABS-CBN

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Unemployment, underemployment climb in July from June

Unemployment, underemployment climb in July from June

ABS-CBN News

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Updated Sep 08, 2023 02:40 PM PHT

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MANILA (UPDATE) - The unemployment rate in the Philippines climbed to 4.8 percent in July from 4.5 percent in June, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

This means there were 2.27 million jobless Filipinos, said National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa.

The PSA however noted that this was an improvement from the 5.2 percent jobless rate in July last year, which saw 2.6 million workers unemployed.

The absolute number of Filipino workers who were jobless however was also lower, as the total number of people in the labor force contracted.

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Mapa said the labor force became smaller because some 1.99 million Filipinos focused on household work, like taking care of younger siblings or children or doing household chores.

"Meron din tayong nagsabi, kasi may mga new entrants tayo palagi every quarter, may nagsabi na they're too young to work. Mga 1 million din yun," he noted.

'WALANG TRABAHO AVAILABLE'

"At yung pangatlo, meron tayong medyo substantial na number, 365,000, na nagsabi na hindi sila, wala silang mahanap na trabaho. They believe na walang trabaho na available."

(We also have respondents who said--remember we have new entrants every quarter--we have 1 million who said they're too young to work. And a third category, about 365,000, who said they can't find work, They believe there are no jobs available.)

The underemployment rate also climbed to 15.9 percent in July from 12 percent in June, meaning 7.1 million Filipino workers saw their jobs or wages as insufficient.

This was also seen as better than the 13.8 percent unemployment rate July last year.

Underemployment, according to the PSA, means that a worker already has a job but is still looking for more job hours or extra work.

Mapa said some 1.25 million Filipinos in July were noted to have been going through invisible underemployment--meaning, they are already working 40 hours a week but are still looking for another job.

He also noted that some 1.11 million Filipinos aged 15-24 said they are not working to focus on school.

Broken down by sector, services still employed the most Filipinos, accounting for 59.4 percent of total employed.

Agriculture accounted for 21.5 percent, while industry employed 19 percent of all workers.

Year-on-year, the 5 industries that added the most number of jobs were transportation and storage (337,000);
administrative and support service activities (243,000); professional, scientific, and technical activities (162,000); information and communication (117,000); and manufacturing (75,000).

Meanwhile, the industries that had the highest drop in jobs were: wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motorcycles and vehicles (1.97 million); agriculture and forestry (1.58 million); and public administration and defense and compulsory social security (271,000).

Mapa said the following lines of work in the agriculture sector saw a decline in their number of workers: growing of leafy and fruit-bearing vegetables (334,000); harvesting, threshing, grading, and related activities (280,000); hog farming (260,000); and growing of other vegetables, melons roots and tubers (172,000).

The official said typhoons that have hit the Philippines may have hurt the agriculture sector.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government remains committed to improving the country's business climate to attract more investments and high-quality jobs for Filipinos.

Balisacan also said the government will focus on upskilling Filipino employees.

"These are critical to assisting members of the workforce, particularly those in vulnerable employment, to improve their employability and allowing them to move across industries and occupations," he explained.

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