More jobs created in August but situation still vulnerable, says PSA
The number of employed Filipinos increased to about 50.10 million in August, up from the 46.05 million recorded in July, according to the Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA)’s regularly-conducted Labor Force Survey.
The nationwide survey of 11,174 households found that 2.03 million people were jobless or out of business, translating to an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent, the PSA reported on Wednesday.
That figure was down from the 2.59 million unemployed in July, when the jobless rate climbed to a pandemic-era high of 5.3 percent after intense downpours swamped farms and paralyzed roads.
Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma agreed that “multiple tropical cyclones and enhanced southwest monsoon” may cause vulnerability in the short term.
He reasoned that the flooding, infrastructure damage, and class and work suspensions halted “business operations, employment, and livelihood in sectors like agriculture, construction, fishing, and retail.”
He also cited that people have exited the workforce due to safety concerns, displacement, or inaccessible workplaces.
Broad improvement
“Labor market indicators showed broad improvement in August on the back of more favorable weather conditions,” economists at Chinabank Research said in a commentary.
With construction projects resuming as cement dried faster, the industry posted an additional 672,000 workers.
Even so, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis Mapa noted in a press briefing that risks remain, in addition to unexpected disasters like the deadly 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Cebu.
“There are risks in September because there were several storms that month. While there is a substantial portion of our labor market that’s somewhat protected from such disasters, there are still components that are dependent on weather conditions,” Mapa said.
The employment rate was at 96.1 percent. Mapa said the services sector accounted for the largest share of total employment at 61.5 percent, followed by agriculture with 20.4 percent and industry at 18.1 percent.
The Labor Force Participation Rate, meanwhile, rose to 65.1 percent from 60.7 percent in July with about 52.13 million Filipinos aged 15 years and above who were either employed or unemployed.
The national unemployment rate improved to 3.9 percent in August from 5.3 percent in July. In terms of magnitude, the number of unemployed individuals was at 2.03 million.
The number of underemployed persons, or employed persons who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional or new job with longer hours of work was estimated at 5.38 million, translating to an underemployment rate of 10.7 percent, lower than July’s 14.8 percent.
