IBON twits Arroyo's 1M jobs claim

Malacañang may claim to create a million jobs a year, but the supposed gains are offset by unemployment and underemployment. This was the claim of militant think tank IBON Foundation, which said the five million new jobs created under the Arroyo government in the last six years would average some 833,000 a year. "However, figures from the official Labor Force Survey show that from 2001-2006 there were an annual average of nearly four million jobless Filipinos, while almost six million already employed Filipinos were underemployed, or still seeking more work," said IBON research head Sonny Africa. Africa questioned the Palace's claims that the jobs were generated by growth in business process outsourcing, high technology and manufacturing. He pointed out that the number of employed persons in the manufacturing sector only increased by 38,000 from 2001-2006. The most jobs "created" during the period was in the agriculture, hunting and forestry sector, which absorbed 681,000 jobs over the same period. However, he pointed out this likely reflected the return of farmers and their families to the countryside after unsuccessfully seeking work in urban centers. "Even assuming Malacañang's job creation figures are accurate, the quality of such jobs was questionable given high rates of underemployment," said Africa. He said that in the past six years, an average of one in five already employed Filipinos still sought more work simply because of prevailing low legislated minimum wages that were not enough to meet their and their families' needs. - GMANews.TV