Philippine jobless rate worsens to 7.5% in 2009

(Updated) — About 2.8 million Filipinos did not have jobs last year, or a yearly unemployment rate of 7.5 percent that is worse than the prior year, the government reported on Thursday. In a statement, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said jobless Filipino men outnumbered their female counterparts at 1.7 million versus 1.1 million. "Most of the unemployed persons reached high school," it said. The 2009 jobless rate was worse than the 7.4 percent recorded in the prior year. The economy grew by a measly 0.8 percent in the third quarter, below the government's 0.8-1.8 percent goal for the year. Economist Victor A. Abola of the University of Asia and the Pacific noted that while the government could have generated one million jobs last year, this was no match to the number of people looking for work. According to the NSO, the labor force population reached 37.9 million persons, with an annual job participation rate of 64 percent. The highest rate was recorded in Northern Luzon at 70.4 percent. "Storms in the last part of the year amid the global economic slowdown could have led more Filipinos to look for jobs to finance house rebuilding," Abola also said. The government earlier said the country was on the path of recovery after being battered by two major storms last year amid the global economic slump. It is aiming for 3-4 percent growth this year. The latest labor survey also showed that the underemployment rate had eased to 19.1 percent last year from 19.3 percent in 2008. Underemployed Filipinos were estimated at 6.7 million. "The highest underemployment rate across regions was in the Bicol region at 36.3 percent, while the lowest was in Central Luzon at 7.8 percent," the NSO said. Employed persons who want to hike their work hours or get a new job with longer work hours are considered underemployed. According to the NSO, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao posted the highest employment rate of 97.7 percent last year, while the National Capital Region was ranked lowest at 87.2 percent. Half of the estimated 35 million employed Filipinos were in services, mostly in wholesale and retail trade, and repair of vehicles, motorcycles and other household goods. About 35 percent were employed in agriculture, while the rest worked in industries. More than half of those with jobs worked as wage earners. A third were self-employed, while more than a tenth were unpaid family workers. The International Labor Organization (ILO) earlier said employment in developing countries, including the Philippines, would continue to drop in the near term despite early signs of economic recovery. In a report released last month, the ILO advised governments to continue spending to stimulate the economy and focus on creating jobs even at the expense of wider budget deficits to avoid threatening the job scenario. Firms were also likely to increase working hours of existing employees first and delay hirings, it added. The Philippines, in particular, will likely take two years to recover as will Indonesia, the report said. — GMANews.TV