Unemployed rise,
but only slightly

THE number of unemployed Filipinos grew by 0.5 percent from last year based on the October 2008 Labor Force Survey.

This means some 2.5 million jobless Filipinos this year from last year’s figure of 2 million unemployed.

Metro Manila had the highest number of unemployed, with 12.8 percent of the labor force, followed by Region 4-A (Calabarzon) with 10 percent and Region 3 (Central Luzon) 8.1 percent.

The labor force (Filipinos aged 15 years old and above) increased by at least 1 million — from 35.92 million last year to 37.06 million this year.

Based on the LFS, there were some 2.26 million unemployed workers as of October last year, representing 6.3 percent of the labor force.

This year, some 2.52 million Filipinos were jobless, or 6.8 percent of the labor force.

The employment rate in October last was 93.2 percent. This means nine of 10 Filipinos were employed, according to the National Statistics Office.

For this year, the employment rate is 93.7 percent.

The LFS said the number of employed Filipinos went down by 8.5 percent, from 93.7 percent (around 33.66 million) last year to 93.2 percent (some 34.54 million) in 2008.

Majority of the employed workers belong to the service and agriculture sectors, 49.6 percent and 35.7 percent.

The number of underemployed workers, or those seeking additional jobs aside from the ones they have, went down by over 16,000 from 2007. The figures for underemployed was some 6.5 million (18.1 percent) last year and 6.48 million (17.5 percent) this year.

Most of the underemployed were also found to be working in the agriculture (48.8 percent) and services (36 percent) sectors.

The economy created 851,000 new jobs when 1.5 million were needed.

Aside from the increase in the number of jobless Filipinos, another proof that the job market is bad is that underemployment remains high at 17 percent with 6 million of the 34.5 million employed seeking more gainful employment. The six million are not earning enough to feed their families.

Economist Victor Abola of the University and Asia and the Pacific said most of the new jobs of 730,000 were found in services, followed by agriculture, 173,000 and construction, 114,000.

Abola also said it was a "pleasant surprise" that 83 percent of new jobs were for salaried posts, and only 17 percent for unpaid family workers.

Abola, however, cautioned that the relatively good job data may not hold next year when the country’s major trading partner hits bottom.

Former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said higher unemployment means lower family income, rising poverty and in extreme cases, higher incidence of hunger.

"With a fast expanding labor force, the economy is supposed to create 1 to 1.5 million new jobs every year. But that’s on top of a stock of 9 to 9.5 million unemployed and underemployed Filipinos. Only four out 10 new jobs created were full-time jobs (those working 40 hours and more)," he said.

Diokno said the employment numbers suggest "very limited success of the promised public sector employment creation program."

The Philippines has one of the highest unemployment rates in the region, and about a third of its population is considered poor.

About a tenth of the Philippine population work and live overseas, seeking higher paying jobs mainly in the Middle East, United States, and in many parts of Asia and Europe to support their families at home.