Philippines ranks 20th world’s most charitable country

UK-based Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has been producing its World Giving Index for more than a decade. The first CAF World Giving Index was published in the wake of the global financial crisis, and now this long-running study has given us the opportunity to look at how the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath have impacted giving around the world.

The study provides combined insight into the scope and nature of giving around the world and looks at three aspects of giving behavior and asks: Have you done any of the following in the past month?

• Helped a stranger, or someone you didn’t know who needed help?

• Donated money to a charity?

• Volunteered your time to an organization?

The Philippines placed 20th out of 119 countries with an overall score of 47% in the 2022 edition of World Giving Index.

The Philippines ranked highest in volunteering time, placing 6th with a score of 39%. This was followed by helping a stranger (rank 15th) and donating money (79th).

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Source: CAF

DoF: Jobless rate goal set at 5.3-6.4%

Unemployment could worsen this year but not to levels seen during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, figures from the Department of Finance showed.

"For full-year 2023, the government targets an unemployment rate of 5.3 to 6.4 percent," the department said in a statement on Thursday after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that unemployment had picked up to 4.8 percent in January from 4.3 percent a month earlier.

No reason was given for the target, which is mostly higher than last year's preliminary result of 5.4 percent.

The jobless rate in 2019, just before Covid-19 hit, was 5.1 percent. It surged to 10.3 percent in 2020 as lockdowns sent the economy into a free-fall and then eased to 7.3 percent in 2021 as businesses gradually started reopening.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa downplayed the January result, attributing the increase from December to seasonal factors.

The official PSA statement made no mention of the month-on-month rise, instead focusing on improvements from a year earlier when unemployment was 6.4 percent.

Underemployment — a measure of job quality — also worsened in January to 14.1 percent from 12.6 percent in December. A year earlier, it was 14.9 percent.

The year-on-year improvement, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said, was "reflective of the country's continued economic recovery."

"To sustain these gains, we are boosting job creation and productivity through high investments in human capital development and public infrastructure," he added.

"Given the challenges such as rising inflation and the possible impact of a global economic slowdown, the economic team stands ready to implement appropriate measures to ensure that our economic and employment gains are sustained."

Source: Manila Times

Jobless rate hits 4-month high in January.

The unemployment rate rose to a four-month high of 4.8% in January amid the loss of temporary holiday jobs, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.

Preliminary data from the PSA’s Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed the jobless rate went up to 4.8% in January, from 4.3% in December. It is the highest jobless rate since the 5% recorded in September.

This is equivalent to 2.37 million jobless Filipinos in January, higher than 2.22 million in December.

Year on year, the unemployment rate dropped from 6.4%, equivalent to 2.95 million, in January 2022.

PSA Undersecretary and National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said they had expected unemployment numbers to rise month on month in January due to the loss of temporary jobs during the holidays.

“There is some seasonality, although we have seen the source of (higher year-on-year) unemployment was construction,” he said during an online briefing in mixed English and Filipino.

Job quality worsened in January, as the underemployment rate jumped to 14.1%, from 12.6% in December. This translated to 6.65 million underemployed Filipinos or persons already working but still looking for more work or longer working hours, versus the 6.197 million in December.

Year on year, the underemployment rate improved from 14.9% in January 2022.

Despite the slight uptick in joblessness, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the latest numbers showed the labor market’s “robust” recovery from a year earlier when a surge in coronavirus cases hit the country.

“However, we note that employment created year on year was mostly part-time and classified as vulnerable,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a statement.

“Thus, it is imperative that labor market policies and programs that directly contribute to labor productivity and employment generation must be prioritized, not only to preserve jobs but also to generate quality jobs.”

PSA’s Mr. Mapa said the employment rate would likely hover near the 4% to 5% level in the next few months.

“We see the unemployment trend to go back to pre-pandemic levels this year since it started this October and the second half of 2022,” he said.

WEAK JOBS MARKET?

In January, the size of the total labor force fell to 49.72 million, from 51.22 million in December.

This brought the labor force participation rate (LFPR) — the share of the Filipino workforce to the total working age population of 15 years old and over — to 64.5% in January, slightly lower than the 66.4% in December.

The employment rate dipped to 95.2% in January, from 95.7% in December. However, it was higher than 93.6% in the same month in 2022.

This means 47.35 million Filipinos had jobs in January, lower than the 49 million in December.

On average, an employed Filipino worked 39.5 hours a week in January compared with 40.3 hours logged in December and 41.8 hours in January last year.

The services sector remained the top employer in January with an employment rate of 60.7% followed by agriculture at 22.2% and industry at 17.1%

Month on month, higher employment was seen in human health and social work activities (up 185,000); transportation and storage (up 182,000); real estate activities (up 93,000); and professional, scientific and technical activities (up 79,000).

Meanwhile, job losses in January were seen in agriculture and forestry (down 1.113 million); wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motor vehicles and motorcycles (down 375,000); and construction (down 288,000).

Year on year, construction had the biggest drop in employment at 334,000, followed by water supply and sewerage at 34,000.

“The jobs market looks to be weakening as manufacturing and construction jobs will likely decline in the coming months,” China Banking Corp. Chief Economist Domini S. Velasquez said in a Viber message, citing the S&P Global Philippines’ latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) report.

“On a positive note, jobs in the services sector will do the heavy lifting due to the increase in tourism activities and flexible work arrangements of the business process outsourcing industry,” she added.

Jose G. Matula, president of the Federation of Free Workers, said the government should implement a more robust public employment program.

“While the increase in unemployment could be partly due to the lack of holiday jobs during the festive season, the rise in underemployment indicates that even those with jobs struggle to find sufficient work to make ends meet,” he said.

Mr. Matula, who heads the largest labor coalition in the country, also called for a P100 billion stimulus package for micro, small, and medium enterprises to cope with rising prices of basic commodities.

PSA data showed that wage and salary earners made up 62.3% of the workforce in January.

Inflation slowed to 8.6% in February from 8.7% in January, but core inflation accelerated to 7.8%, its fastest pace in over 22 years.

ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said the rise in unemployment and underemployment reflects the “scarring effects” and challenges faced by the economy.

“Lower job creation amidst the cost of living crisis (not to mention surging borrowing costs) only highlights the factors that could force overall growth to slow this year,” he said in a Viber message.

ING’s Mr. Mapa said recent data makes it likely that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will raise interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) at its meeting this month, as “monetary tightening will need to run its course while BSP remains cognizant of the slowing growth momentum of the economy.”

The BSP has raised rates by 400 basis points (bps) since May 2022, bringing the policy rate to 6%, the highest since 2007.

The Monetary Board’s next meeting is on March 23.

Source: Business World