GlobalSource says improved unemployment data masks extent of joblessness
A THINK TANK has flagged the alarming labor situation in the Philippines, as the number of Filipinos looking for more work or longer working hours increased.
While the country’s unemployment rate improved last month, overall joblessness rose to 21.9% in 2020 and 22.3% in 2021 from 16.8% in 2019, think tank GlobalSource Partners noted in an emailed report.
“Unemployment rate has declined this year but masks extent of joblessness,” it said.
GlobalSource said the number of Filipinos wanting to work more hours went up to 16.1% or 7.04 million people in October from 14.2% or 6.18 million in September.
“[Compared] with pre-pandemic (2019), employment increased by only about a third or about 1.3 million jobs,” it said. “Moreover, the sectoral and occupational jobs breakdowns provide a grim picture of the post-pandemic recovery where new jobs are largely in low-productivity, low-skilled and thus low-wage segments.”
The think tank said between 2019 and 2021, the labor force “grew faster than the working age population” due to the hundreds of thousands of repatriated overseas workers seeking local employment as deployment opportunities slumped.
“There may also be those who saw family incomes decline during the pandemic and are now forced to work to make ends meet,” GlobalSource said.
The country’s unemployment rate decreased to 7.4% last month from 8.9% in September, the lowest in three months or since July 2021’s 6.9%, the government reported earlier this week.
This is equivalent to about 3.5 million jobless Filipinos in October, down from 4.255 million unemployed in September. — K.A.T. Atienza
