Unemployment rate eases to 7.2%, says NSO

The number of jobless Filipinos fell in April, the government reported on Wednesday. According to the April 2011 Labor Force Survey of the National Statistics Office, the country's employment rate improved by 0.8 percentage point to 92.8 percent from 92 percent in April last year. "A total of 2.9 million persons were unemployed in April 2011, placing the unemployment rate at 7.2 percent, down from 8 percent recorded.., [in the same period last year]," the NSO said. Of the estimated 61.8 million Filipinos 15 years old and over, about 39.7 million were in the labor force, placing the labor force participation rate (LFPR) at 64.2 percent. Unemployment was highest in the National Capital Region. The highest employment rates were in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Cagayan Valley, and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The NSO said that of the 2.9 million jobless Filipinos, 64 percent were male and 36 percent were female. Half of the unemployed were in the 15-24 age group, while a third were in the 25-34 age group. Across education groups most of the unemployed were high school graduates (32.6 percent), college undergraduates (23.1 percent), and college graduates (20.4 percent). The NSO also reported that even if the unemployment rate fell, the number of underemployed , or those who express desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job or a new job with longer working hours registered at 19.4 percent or 7.1 million, from 17.8 percent a year earlier. Among the employed half or 51.7 percent were in the services sector, 33 percent were in the agriculture sector and 15.3 percent were in the industry sector. — CMA/OMG/VS, GMA News