THE Bureau of Labor Employment (BLE) said jobs created in 2019 may exceed 1 million, with the services sector expected to come on strong in an election year.
The BLE, an agency under the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said the projection exceeds the general target of 900,000 jobs created in each year of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s administration.
“The target generation of employment is 900,000 to 1.1 million every year until 2022… We hope to surpass this target (in 2019) because this is an election year,” BLE Director Dominique R. Tutay said in an interview with BusinessWorld on Thursday.
Ms. Tutay said in 2019, the services sector will see a boost in employment especially in the Wholesale and Retail Trade segment; as will Public Administration and Defense.
“Many activities during an election year will employ people under the services sector, particularly the wholesale and retail and public administration,” Ms. Tutay said.
BLE also expects the construction sector to play a part in exceeding the 1 million mark due to the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure program.
In its 2018 Year-End Report, DoLE reported that 826,000 jobs were generated last year, raising total employment in 2018 by 2.0% to 41.160 million. — Gillian M. Cortez
