The Philippines sees increase in full employment

More people in the Philippines are currently experiencing full employment, despite the rise in the number of unemployment, said the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE).

Bienvenido Laguesma, Secretary of Labour and Employment of the Philippines, reported that the unemployment rate went up slightly while the number of underemployed people dropped.

“Underemployment decreased from 11.7% to 10.7%. This is quite significant because this indicates that there are now more employees with regular, permanent, and remunerative jobs,” Laguesma said.

“If you read the report, there are more fixed wage or salaried workers these days,” he said, referring to the latest results of the Labour Force Survey.

The number of jobless people rose from 4.5% in August to 4.6% in September, based on the LFS Survey done by the Philippine Statistics Authority. The employment rate, meanwhile, fell from 95.6% to 95.5%.

Laguesma said a major part of the unemployed was due to fewer self-employed and unpaid employees, reported The Philippine Star.

On a year-to-year basis, the country’s employment rate increased, while the underemployment rate declined considerably and the unemployment rate also decreased, said Laguesma.

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He said the results of the survey reflected the “volatility and seasonality” of the Philippine labour markets, aggravated by adverse climate weather conditions that affected the agriculture sector. The employment decline experienced in the manufacturing sector was due to supply chain concerns as well as issues on input and borrowing costs. With the expected renewed economic activities for the fourth quarter, the employment situation in the country is seen to further improve, said Laguesma.