Unemployment in the Philippines

Philippines Unemployment Rate Down to 6.8 Percent in October
Philippines National Statistics Office | Andre Crujo | andre@tradingeconomics.com  |  12/21/2012 11:51:19 AM 

The proportion of the unemployed persons to the labor force was estimated at 2.8 million, which translated an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent.Employment Rate is estimated at 93.2 Percent in October 2012, results from the October 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS) show.  The October 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS) results recorded an estimate of 37.7 million employed persons, which gives an employment rate of 93.2 percent. Last year’s employment rate was estimated at 93.6 percent. Across regions, Cagayan Valley reported the highest employment rate of 97.6 percent, next is Zamboanga Peninsula with 96.6 percent. National Capital Region (NCR) posted the lowest employment rate of 89.0 percent. The total population 15 years old and over in October 2012 was estimated at 63.3 million. Out of this estimate, 40.4 million persons were in the labor force. This figure translates to a labor force participation rate (LFPR) of 63.9 percent.  The LFPR in October 2011 was 66.3 percent.  Among regions, the highest LFPR was posted in Northern Mindanao at 68.5 percent, while the lowest was reported in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) at 57.9 percent. Out of the estimated 37.7 million employed persons in October 2012, workers belonging to the services sector comprised the largest proportion with 52.6 percent of the total employed persons. Of the employed persons in the services sector, those engaged in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles accounted for the highest percentage (18.7 percent of the total employed). The unemployment rate was slightly higher than last year’s unemployment rate of 6.4 percent. NCR registered the highest unemployment rate at 11.0 percent whereas Cagayan Valley recorded the lowest at 2.4 percent. Among the unemployed persons, there were more males (62.1 percent) than females (37.9 percent). Most (48.5 percent) of the unemployed persons belong to age group 15 to 24 years. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/philippines/unemployment-rate Despite high economic growth, PH has highest unemployment rate in Asean By Matikas Santos INQUIRER.net 6:48 pm | Monday, September 3rd, 2012 Job applicants browse newspapers for job vacancies as they queue up at a job fair in Manila in this file photo. Despite the respectably high economic growth rate that the country registered in the second quarter of 2012, the Philippines has the worst unemployment rate in Southeast Asia, according to Ibon Foundation. AFP PHOTO/TED ALJIBE MANILA, Philippines—Despite 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 country’s 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 Indonesia’s 6.4 percent and China’s 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 country’s 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 country’s growth.” “The country’s 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. http://business.inquirer.net/80138/despite-high-economic-growth-ph-has-highest-unemployment-rate-in-asean Why do we go to school? Is it because we simply want to learn? Or, because we want to find a job that would best suit us after spending almost half of our lives studying for it? Honestly speaking, I’m not really into economic issues right now. Sadly, brought by the fact that I’m not an avid TV fanatic nor a net addict, I became unaware of our society’s current events. I allowed myself to be preoccupied with “non-value added” activities, like hanging out with friends than spending some time watching news, and failed to see the “something-more-out-there”. It seems that I’m locked in my own world, careless of what there is outside. I remember the time where my friends kept on talking about certain issues and then, there’s me, who acts like listening but deep inside, “Blah-blah, I don’t care because I don’t know.”  That is why I’m glad that we have this kind of project wherein I am forced, but not that much, to study and research on issues relating to economics. This helps me to break free; to crush the wall that hinders me towards the awareness which I've been longingly seeking. So, here I am, aware and ready. Here’s what I learned. Here I speak.  “The figures say it all.” I actually have two articles as my sources. Both of them talks about the increase in the unemployment rate here in the Philippines despite the high economic growth. As I was reading the articles, I found the figures engaging and as well, challenging. There are so many numbers, so many things to think about, and so many interpretations to be realized. As a third year student and soon to be fourth year, this issue or, shall we say, problem means a lot to me and this is the reason why I chose this amongst all other economic issues. This is something that summons us, students, to move, to speak, to get involved and let the government hear our voices. We are still studying. We have hopes and dreams with us that we long to achieve. We won’t let our dreams be shattered. We won’t let our effort of spending almost half of our lives in studying become dust in the wind.  But because of this unfortunate news, we now come to ask ourselves, can is I still work on my dream job? Will my “when-I-grow-up-speech” be ever achieved now that I've grown?             It’s been so apparent that the government, especially our president, is doing their best to reap positive outcomes out from their governance. As to this, we know that our economy has been positively growing, but a sad truth lies behind. The truth that despite high economic growth, Philippines has the highest unemployment right in Southeast Asia according to Ibon Foundation and this is something I chose not to be proud of. What the government is doing to increase the economy is through allowing the foreign investors benefit disproportionately more than Filipinos. Can’t the government try to balance these things? Maybe it’s difficult to, but can’t they realize that what they are putting into risk is our dreams, the dreams that we've been working on for so long.             I could see job fairs everywhere. But, are the jobs the jobs that the job seekers want their job to be?  Perhaps for some, yes. But for most of the people I know, it’s not. I could still remember that nurses before were in the demand here and abroad. This news urged my cousin to eagerly pursue her dream of becoming a nurse. But she failed to realize that when she graduates, nurses are no longer that in demand. Nowadays, call center agents are more prone to hiring, and who would have thought this will be the trend? Despite being a registered nurse, my cousin chose to work in a call center. If you try to connect the two jobs, the one’s inclined to technology while the other one’s on science; you’ll really see how different they are. After two months, she quit because she realized that wasn't her dream. You see, she was once part of those who were employed but now, she’s one of the unemployed. She contributed to that increase regardless of the availability of jobs. If only the government established more areas to practice more professions, this will not happen. In this case, they could build more hospitals. I know that there are still places in the country that needs hospitals and with this; the demand for nurses will increase. And to encourage more nurses to work, they should be given reasonable wages.             To relate it to my situation, I’m currently taking Bachelor of Science in Accounting Technology, and hopefully, by God’s will, proceed to Bachelor of Science in Accountancy because I want to become a CPA and work with an accounting related job, no other else. So when you dare to ask me if I want to become an English teacher? I’ll laugh without offense. Then answer, “I’ll only work for what I am made for.” Maybe you’ll find me so ambitious but, with all honesty, I’m studying this hard because I want the companies to look for me, not that I’ll be the one to look for them. But in case this will not happen, I will find a job that will best fit me and will get the best out of me. Failures may come but I promise to keep myself employed. I’ll keep the firing burning.               Do you know what else I desire the most? I want the government to find efficient and effective ways to minimize, as much as possible, the unemployment rate in the country. They must prioritize Filipino-generated businesses rather than those foreign ones to make the Filipinos better off. We should benefit the best in all aspects. I’m not saying that the government shall ban foreign investment. It’s just that we live in this place, we take this place, and so, we are to be first.  I hope that each year, unemployment rate will gradually decrease. Each year, our economy as a general will grow. Each year, Philippines will be positively known throughout the world, no if’s or but’s. And each year, more and more Filipinos will be proud of their race.             There are many more problems that our country is facing, not just unemployment. The call is here. Now is the time. The government cannot do it alone. A single Filipino cannot do it alone. They need the Filipino people, their co-Filipinos, us, the average, the majority. We need to work together. We do change. We change for the better.