UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES

1. ADB: Youth unemployment a 'policy challenge' for gov't

By CNN Philippines Staff, Updated 00:30 AM PHT Thu, March 31, 2016

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) Although the Philippine economy has

grown by 6.2% on average since 2010, the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
believes that youth unemployment is a "policy challenge" for the government.

"A survey found that college graduates took about a year to find work, and high
school graduates took up to 3 years. Many drift into informal work, often part
time and poorly paid, or remain unemployed. One in four young people is
neither working nor pursuing education or training," ADB said in its Asian
Development Outlook 2016 released on Wednesday (March 30).

A Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report shows the country's overall

unemployment rate stood at 5.8 percent in January 2016. However, almost half
(48.2 percent) of unemployed persons were from the 18-24 age group.

According to ADB, a number of factors keep youth unemployment "high." On

the demand-side, the number of jobs generated each year falls short of what is
needed to both absorb new entrants into the labor force and the 2.5 million
unemployed.

"Almost 80% of new jobs in the past 6 years have been generated by the
service sector, particularly BPO, tourism, and retail trade Stronger
employment generation will require more broad-based growth driven by
productivity gains across all sectors."

It also cited a mismatch education and skills in the labor market: "Improving the
relevance and quality of technical and vocational training programs and
strengthening certification frameworks will help overcome such mismatches."

"More programs are needed to provide employment services, such as career

guidance and coaching for young people when they leave school."

Nevertheless, the multilateral financial institution noted the government's efforts

in tackling youth unemployment, such as the JobStart Philippines program,
which is currently being rolled out.

Under the program, youth beneficiaries receive full-cycle employment

facilitation services that include:
 Career Guidance and Coaching, to be provided by Public Employment
Service Office staff and other trained career guidance coaches and
advocates
Life Skills training for eight days
Technical skills training for up to three months
Company-based internships for up to six months

The government pays employers P9,000 as a training fee for every intern the
latter takes in.

"The Philippines has a relatively young population, as half of all Filipinos last
year were younger than 25 years, and the median age was estimated at 23.
This offers an opportunity to raise potential economic growth, but the
demographic dividend can be realized only if young people are employed in
productive jobs," ADB said.

Source:
http://cnnphilippines.com/business/2016/03/30/ADB-Youth-unemployment-poli
cy-challenge-govt.html

2. YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT.

Youth unemployment is generally viewed as an important policy issue

for many economies regardless of their stage of development according to
the International Labor Office (ILO). T

The term Youth as defined by the United Nations (UN) refers to age
group between 15 and 24. In practice however, the operational definition of
youth varies widely from country to country depending on cultural,
institutional and political factors. In the case of the Philippines, youth refers to
the sector of population aged 15-30 years old as defined in Republic Act (RA)
No. 8044 -Creation of the National Youth Commission. Generally, youth
unemployment includes the 15-30 age group and not just 15-19 year old
teenagers. Including 20-30 year old gives a fairer picture of the performance
of all young people in the labor market and takes into account the pattern of
employment both during and after leaving school or university.

The ranks of youth unemployed continued to expand due to the rapid

growth of youth labor force (mostly caused by the entry of school leavers,
vacationing students and college graduates) and the moderate performance
of the economy.

Almost three out of five young unemployed were males. However, the
unemployment rates of their female counterpart were consistently higher
 over the five year period and even higher than the total unemployment rate
of their age group. Unemployment is more of an urban phenomenon, where
for every three young unemployed, two were living in urban areas.

Source:
https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/vol7_19.PDF

3. DOLE: Jobless youths account for half of PHs unemployed sector

By: Nestor Corrales - Reporter / @NCorralesINQ

INQUIRER.net / 12:43 PM June 18, 2014

MANILA, PhilippinesThe number of unemployed Filipino youth may have

decreased by 13,000 by April 2014, but it still accounts for more than half of the
Philippines jobless sector, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
reported.

DOLE said 1.456 million Filipino youths who belong to the 18-24 age bracket
were jobless according to the Philippine Statistical Authoritys Labor Force
Survey.

While youth unemployment decreased by just 1.1 percent from 16.8 percent in
April 2013 to 15.7 percent in April 2014, it still accounts for more than half of the
2.9 million unemployed Filipinos in the country, it said.

According to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, half of unemployment could

go down if youth unemployment would be addressed.

The countrys unemployment rate will go down by at least half if youth

unemployment is solved, she said.

Baldoz said the DOLE has launched the implementation of

the JobStart Philippines program to address youth unemployment.

She said the program aims to increase the employability of the youth by
providing them access to technical and life skills training demanded by
employers.
 The fact remains that youth unemployment rate is more than double the
national unemployment rate and, therefore, this is a challenge we all need to
address, Baldoz said.

She explained that through JobStart, youths aged 18-24 years of age, who
are either currently not working, or have less than a year of work experience,
and who are not enrolled in an educational or training program, or who have at
least completed a high school education, can access technical and skills
training and on-the-job opportunities that would improve their chances of
landing a job.

JobStarts objective is to raise the youth job placement rate to 80 percent

from the current 60-65 percent rate, she said.

Under JobStart, the youth beneficiaries will receive full-cycle employment

facilitation services that include Career Guidance and Coaching, Life Skills
training, Technical skills training and Company-based internships.

Source:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/612180/dole-jobless-youths-account-for-half-of-p
hs-unemployed-sector

4. Despite high economic growth, PH has highest unemployment rate in

Asean

By: Matikas Santos - NewsLab Lead / @MSantosINQ

INQUIRER.net / 06:48 PM September 03, 2012

MANILA, PhilippinesDespite the respectably high economic growth rate

that the country registered in the second quarter, the Philippines has the worst
unemployment rate in Southeast Asia, independent think tank Ibon
Foundation has pointed out.

The Philippines average economic growth is reportedly higher than some

Southeast Asian countries but at the same time, it also has the worst
unemployment rates in the region, Ibon Foundation Executive Director Sonny
Africa said in a statement.

The government had reported that the countrys second-quarter Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.9 percent year on year.
 This was higher than the average growth of the region at 4.7 percent and
faster than that of Malaysia (5.4 percent), Thailand (4.2 percent), Vietnam (4.4
percent), Singapore (2.0 percent), although lower than Indonesias 6.4 percent
and Chinas 7.8 percent.

Africa, however, said, citing 2011 official figures, that the Philippines
unemployment rate was the worst in Southeast Asia and more than double
the regional average.

The countrys unemployment rate of 7 percent in 2011 was more than double
the regional average of 3.2 percent and higher than in Indonesia (6.6 percent),
Myanmar (4.0 percent), Malaysia (3.1 percent), Singapore (2.7 percent),
Brunei (2.6 percent), Vietnam (2.0 percent), Cambodia (1.7 percent), Laos
(1.4 percent) and Thailand (0.7 percent), Africa said.

He added that the disparity between the high GDP growth and the
unemployment rate further highlights the exclusionary character of the
countrys growth.

The countrys unemployment crisis will remain unresolved without a genuine

thrust to develop Filipino manufacturing and domestic agriculture, Africa said.

Unfortunately, the government persists in promoting low employment and low

value-added sectors such as business process outsourcing (BPO), mining,
tourism, enclave manufacturing for export, and cheap labor export. These are
sectors where foreign investors and economies benefit disproportionately more
than Filipinos, he said.

Source:
http://business.inquirer.net/80138/despite-high-economic-growth-ph-has-hig
hest-unemployment-rate-in-asean

5. Unemployment rate in January 2017 is estimated at 6.6 %.

Reference Number: 2017-029

Release Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Results from the January 2017 Labor Force Survey (LFS)

 Results from the January 2017 Labor Force Survey (LFS)

Philippines January January

2017a/ 2016
Population 15 years and over (in
69,414 67,889
000)
Labor Force Participation Rate (%) 60.7 63.6
Employment Rate (%) 93.4 94.3
Unemployment Rate (%) 6.6 5.7
Underemployment Rate (%) 16.3 19.6

a/ Estimates for January 2017 are preliminary and may change.

The employment rate in January 2017 was estimated at 93.4 percent. Four
regions, namely, Ilocos Region (91.3%), National Capital Region (NCR)
(91.5%), Caraga (91.5%), and CALABARZON (91.8%) had the lowest
employment rates (Table 4). The labor force participation rate (LFPR) in
January 2017 was estimated at 60.7 percent given the labor force population
of 69.4 million. The labor force population consists of the employed and the
unemployed 15 years old and over.

Workers were grouped into three broad sectors, namely, agriculture, industry
and services sector. Workers in the services sector comprised the largest
proportion of the population who are employed. These workers made up 57.1
percent of the total employed in January 2017 (Table 1). Among them, those
engaged in wholesale and retail trade or in the repair of motor vehicles and
motorcycles accounted for the largest percentage (35.2%) of workers in the
services sector (Table 2).

Workers in the agriculture sector comprised the second largest group making
up 25.5 percent of the total employed in January 2017, while workers in the
industry sector made up the smallest group registering 17.4 percent of the
total employed. The January 2017 LFS results also showed that in the
industry sector, workers in the
manufacturing subsector made up the largest group, accounting for
48.0 percent of workers in this sector, and those in construction, the second
largest group, making up 47.0 percent (Tables 1 and 2).

Among the occupation groups, workers in the elementary occupations

remained the largest group making up 25.4 percent of the total employed in
January 2017 (Table 1). Managers comprised the second largest occupation
group (16.9%), followed by service and sales workers (15.4%), and skilled
agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers (13.4%).

Employed persons fall into any of these categories: (1) wage and salary
workers, (2) self-employed workers without any paid employee, (3) employers
in own family-operated farm or business, and (4) unpaid family workers. Wage
and salary workers are those who work for private households, private
establishments, government or government-controlled corporations, and those
who work with pay in own family-operated farm or business. In January 2017,
the wage and salary workers made up 62.8 percent of the total employed, with
those working in private establishments continuing to account for the largest
share (Table 1). They made up 49.1 percent of the total employed in January
2017. The second largest class of workers were the self-employed making up
27.2 percent of the total employed in January 2017. Unpaid family workers
accounted for 6.3 percent of the total employed.

Employed persons are classified as either full-time workers or part-time

workers. Full-time workers refer to those who worked for 40 hours or more
during the reference week, while those who worked for less than 40 hours
were considered part-time workers. Of the total employed persons in January
2017, 64.8 percent were full-time workers, while 34.2 percent were part-time
workers (Table 2). In this round of LFS, workers worked 41.3 hours per week,
on average.

By definition, employed persons who express the desire to have additional

hours of work in their present job, or to have additional job, or to have a new
job with longer working hours are considered underemployed. In January
2017, the underemployment rate, which is the percentage of the
underemployed to the total employed, was estimated at 16.3 percent (Table 4).

Underemployed persons who work for less than 40 hours in a week are called
visibly underemployed persons. They accounted for 58.5 percent of the total
underemployed in January 2017 (Table 3). By comparison, the
underemployed persons who worked for 40 hours or more in a week made up
40.0 percent. By sector, 46.9 percent of the underemployed worked in the
services sector, while 32.8 percent were in the agriculture sector. Those in
the industry sector accounted for 20.3 percent (Table 3).

The unemployment rate in January 2017 was estimated at 6.6

percent. Among the regions, Ilocos Region (8.7%), National Capital Region
(NCR) (8.5%), Caraga (8.5%), and CALABARZON (8.2%) were the regions
with the highest unemployment rates (Table 4).
Among the unemployed persons in January 2017, 69.6 percent were
males. Of the total unemployed, the age group 15 to 24 years comprised 44.1
percent, while the age group 25 to 34, 29.6 percent. By educational
attainment, 16.5 percent of the unemployed were college graduates, 14.6
percent were college undergraduates, and 31.1 percent were high school
graduates (Table 3).

(Sgd.) LISA GRACE S. BERSALES

National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

Source:
https://psa.gov.ph/content/employment-rate-january-2017-estimated-934-
percent

6. Philippines Unemployment Rate 1994-2017 | Data | Chart | Calendar

The unemployment rate in the Philippines fell to 5.7 percent in the June
quarter of 2017 from 6.1 percent a year ago. The number of unemployed
persons went down by 182 thousand to 2,443 thousand while the number of
employed fell by 393 thousand to 40,271. Meanwhile, the labor force
participation rate decreased to 61.4 percent from a 63.5 percent. Among
employed persons, workers in the services sector made up 55.4 percent of the
total, followed by those in the agriculture sector (26.1 percent) and industry
(18.5 percent). Unemployment Rate in Philippines averaged 8.58 percent from
1994 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 13.90 percent in the first quarter of
2000 and a record low of 4.70 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Source:
https://tradingeconomics.com/philippines/unemployment-rate