RP jobless rate slides to 7.8% in January - NSO

The Philippines’ jobless rate fell to 7.8 percent in January 2007 from 8.1 percent in the same period last year, helped by additional jobs in the agriculture and services sectors. The unemployment rate for January 2007, however, was higher than the 7.6 percent recorded in the last NSO survey conducted on October 2006. According to a National Statistics Office report released Thursday, the National Capital Region had the highest unemployment rate of 12.7 percent. It was followed by the CALABARZON, which had an unemployment rate of 10.4 percent. The NSO study also showed that joblessness was more rampant among men than women. Men had an unemployment rate of 8.1 percent, compared to 7.4 percent for women. In the same study, the NSO said that of the 35.35 million employed Filipinos, 50.5 percent worked in the service sector while 34.7 worked in the agriculture sector. Jobs under the services sector include those in restaurants, tourism, and the country’s much touted call center industry. Those working in the industrial sector comprised 14.8 percent of the total number of employed. The NSO said, however, that despite the fall in the unemployment rate, a sizeable number of Filipinos still deemed themselves underemployed. “In January 2007, one in every five employed Filipinos was underemployed. Most of the underemployed were found in the agriculture sector at 45.7 percent," the NSO added. An underemployed person is one who already has a job but is still looking for more opportunities to work. The NSO also said that despite the increasing number of jobs in the country, a significant portion of the country’s workforce is still classified as laborers and unskilled workers. “Among the various occupation groups, laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest proportion (32.3 percent) of the total employed population. This was also the largest occupation group in January 2006 (31.4 percent)," the NSO said. - GMANews.TV