Jobless Filipinos up to 3.13M in February —PSA

By TED CORDERO, GMA News The number of unemployed Filipinos rose in February as the easing of restrictions during the period prompted many to look for employment opportunities but failed to land jobs due to limited number of businesses operating, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Thursday. At a virtual press conference, PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said the number of unemployed adults, or those aged 15 and above, in February stood at 3.13 million, reflecting an unemployment rate of 6.4%. This is higher compared to the 2.93 million jobless individuals recorded in January, reflecting a similar unemployment rate of 6.4% — the lowest since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in April 2020, when the all-time high unemployment rate of 17.6% or 7.3 million jobless was recorded. February’s number of jobless Filipinos was lower compared to the 4.19 million unemployed recorded in February 2021. Mapa said the easing of restrictions to Alert Level 2 for the entire February prompted many to look for jobs as the labor force participation rate — the percentage of individuals who are actively looking for work in the adult population — increased to 63.8% from 60.5% in January. In terms of magnitude, the number of labor force participants stood at 48.61 million in January, an increase of about 2.67 million adult Filipinos who were either employed or unemployed, from 45.94 million in January. “We can surmise that the opening of the economy, the easing of restrictions encouraged ang ating mga kababayan na maghanap ng trabaho [people to look for jobs],” Mapa said. However, he said that not all who looked for jobs got one. “Marami ang naghahanap ng trabaho pero hindi sila nakakuha ng trabaho na gusto nila [Many were unsuccessful in looking for jobs],” Mapa said, noting that those unemployed who were looking for work increased from 1.16 million in January to 1.94 million in February. “Possible reasons are not enough jobs or some are waiting for other opportunities,” he added. Under Alert Level 2 — the second lowest in the new alert level system — certain establishments and activities are allowed at 50% capacity indoors for fully vaccinated adults (and minors, even if unvaccinated), and 70% capacity outdoors. Nonetheless, the PSA chief said that among the unemployed, those saying they are jobless due to mobility restrictions declined to 385,000 in February from 813,000 in January. In an emailed commentary, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said that “many businesses need to reopen further, especially hard-hit industries such as tourism, travel, and other businesses/industries that entail crowds in able for the unemployment rate to go back to pre-pandemic levels of 4%-5% levels.” Employed, underemployed Despite the increase in the number of unemployed persons, the number of employed persons in February also increased to 45.48 million from 43.02 million in January. In terms of employment rate — the percentage of those with jobs in the labor force — February’s print was at 93.6%, same as January’s figures. The quality of jobs also improved as seen in the decline in the underemployment rate from 14.9% to 14%, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said in a separate statement. “As we contained the spread of the Omicron variant and ramped up the vaccination program, we were able to revert to Alert Level 2 in the National Capital Region and other economic centers starting February 2022. This allowed more Filipinos to rejoin the labor force,” said NEDA chief and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua. Sectors The PSA reported that the services sector continued to lead all sectors, having the largest share of employed persons at 58.2%. Meanwhile, the share of employed persons in agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 23.9% and 17.9%, respectively. In terms of month-on-month changes in the number of employed persons from January to February, the top five sub-sectors with the highest increase were the following: Agriculture and forestry (1.44 million) Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.07 million) Accommodation and food service activities (145,000) Public administration and defense; compulsory social security (116,000) Human health and social work activities (108,000) In contrast, the top five sub-sectors with largest drop in employment from January to February were as follows: Administrative and support service activities (-263,000) Manufacturing (-235,000) Financial and insurance activities (-57,000) Arts, entertainment and recreation (-48,000) Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (-44,000) Alert Level 1 “We aim to shift the entire country to alert level 1 to enable even more Filipinos to find work,” Chua said. Under Alert Level 1, businesses will be allowed to operate at 100% operating capacity. There are no more age restrictions and physical barriers are removed while digital contact tracing is optional. As of April 1, 2022, 79% of the economy has been placed under Alert Level 1, according to NEDA. However, Chua cautioned that the country cannot reap the full benefits of shifting to Alert Level 1 without resuming face-to-face classes. “To maximize the shift to Alert Level 1, we reiterate the need for the full and urgent resumption of face-to-face classes. This will allow one-fourth of the parents who stay at home supporting their children during online classes to work. This is crucial in light of the temporary inflationary pressures we are experiencing due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” he said. The NEDA earlier said that opening all schools nationwide for in-person learning would increase economic activity by P12 billion per week. The full resumption of face-to-face classes is included in the 10-point policy agenda proposed by the Economic Development Cluster and adopted by the President through the issuance of Executive Order No. 166. The agenda includes 10 key strategies to accelerate and sustain the country’s economic recovery and strengthen the domestic economy against external shocks. —KBK, GMA News