Fewer Filipinos unemployed in November 2021

The number of unemployed Filipinos decreased from 3.50 million in October to 3.16 million in November 2021.

According to PSA, the country’s unemployment rate of 6.5 percent in November was so far the lowest in 2021. In October, the figure was at 7.4 percent.

The second-lowest unemployment rate so far for 2021 was in July at 6.9 percent, while the third lowest was in September at 7.1 percent. The unemployment rate was highest in September at 8.9 percent.

The country’s employment rate also picked up from 92.6 percent in October to 93.5 percent in November, the highest reported since the start of 2021. PSA said this was equivalent to 45.48 million employed individuals. The figure was at 43.83 million in October, and 43.59 million in September.

Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in November was estimated at 64.2 percent, translating to 48.64 million individuals aged 15 years old and above who were either employed or unemployed.

“This LFPR was higher than the LFPR reported from January to October 2021 except in March and June 2021, both at 65.0 percent, and May 2021 (64.6%). Labor Force posted a month-on-month increment of 1.31 million individuals from the 47.33 million reported in October 2021,” PSA said in its report.

Youth labor force participation rate in November was posted at 37.5 percent, higher than the youth LFPR in October at 35.7 percent.

PSA said that youth employment rate in November was estimated at 86.6 percent, also the highest so far in 2021.

Source: Inquirer and PSA

PH inflation slowed down further to 3.6 percent in December 2021

Prices of goods rose at a much faster pace in 2021 than what the government aimed for, as Filipinos struggled to make ends meet amid the coronavirus crisis.

The Philippine Statistics Authority on Wednesday, January 5, reported that inflation for the entire 2021 hit 4.5%, driven mainly by higher food prices.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic team aimed for inflation to fall within 2% to 4%. But since it only settled within the target band once in 2021, at 4% in July, analysts did not expect the full-year figure to fall within desirable levels.

The inflation rate for the entire 2021 was pulled down by the 3.6% recorded in December, a decline compared to the 4.2% in November.

Vegetable prices deflated by 10% in December, while fish and rice prices rose at a slower pace by 7% and 0.9%, respectively.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa said prices of meat, transportation, and fuel were the top drivers of inflation in the entire 2021.

To tame prices, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua said the local supply of meat, especially pork, needs to be augmented by pork imports.

Chua also called for the distribution of more imported pork outside Metro Manila, noting that meat is among the top three drivers of inflation in 14 out of 16 regions outside the capital in December.

“With the National Capital Region (NCR) and the neighboring provinces of Cavite, Rizal, and Bulacan now under Alert Level 3, it is important to ensure affordable food prices and the continued delivery of goods and services. To temper inflation in meat, especially pork, the government is working to increase local supply and ensure regular unloading of stocks from cold storages,” Chua said.

Regions

The inflation rate in NCR slightly eased to 2.8% in December from the 2.9% posted in November. This was due to prices of petroleum and some food items rising at a slower pace.

Meanwhile, inflation outside the capital region eased to 3.9% in December from 4.5% in November, as vegetable prices dropped.

The Zamboanga Peninsula and the Davao Region posted the highest inflation rates, both at 6.1%, while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao posted the lowest at 2.1%.

Typhoon impact

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said supply disruptions and agricultural damage from Typhoon Odette (Rai) will likely result in a temporary uptick in the prices of food items.

“As with previous episodes of natural disasters, the effective implementation of non-monetary government intervention measures to ensure adequate domestic food supply must be sustained in order to mitigate potential supply side pressures on inflation,” Diokno said.

The BSP projected that inflation would ease close to the midpoint of the 2%-4% target range in 2022.

Prices refusing to cool down at a time when Filipinos were struggling to find quality jobs put pressure on households’ budgets.

As of the first half of 2021, poverty incidence had risen to 23.7%, equivalent to 26.1 million Filipinos.

While there are now more jobs available due to the economy reopening, underemployment, which refers to employed people who want additional hours of work, hit 16.1% in October, equivalent to 7.04 million people

Source: Rappler and PSA

Residential Real Estate Prices Grew YOY in Q3 2021

Property prices finally rebounded in the third quarter after slumping for two straight quarters, buoyed by the sharp increase in the prices of condominium units and townhouses as demand heightened amid the continued reopening of the economy.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) increased by 6.3 percent to 139.5 in the third quarter from 131.2 in the same quarter last year.

This reversed 0.4 percent and 9.4 percent declines in the first and second quarters, respectively. The RREPI, launched in the first quarter of 2016, is used as an indicator for assessing the real estate and credit market conditions in the country.

“The nationwide house prices increased by 6.3 percent year-on-year partly due to the stronger consumer demand for residential property, particularly townhouses and condominium units,” the central bank said.

The increase, according to the BSP, is consistent with the outcome of the third quarter 2021 Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) that showed a higher percentage of consumers preferring to buy real estate in the reference quarter amid signs of economic recovery.

The central bank attributed the pickup in nationwide housing prices to the 11.4 percent rise in the index of residential property prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) to 153 in the third quarter from 137.3 in the same quarter last year.

“The considerable uptick in the NCR residential property prices was brought about by the rise in the prices of townhouse and condominium units, which outweighed the decline in the prices of single detached/attached houses in the NCR,” the BSP said.

Housing prices in the NCR slumped for four straight quarters year-on-year since the fourth quarter of 2020 due to lower demand as families migrated to the provinces and areas outside the capital to escape the strict lockdown and quarantine measures amid rising COVID-19 infections.

With the accelerated vaccine rollout as well as declining COVID-19 cases, families are slowly returning to the capital as some of them are now reporting for work in their offices while some students also resumed face-to-face classes.

On the other hand, residential real estate prices in areas outside NCR have been rising since the third quarter of 2019 before contracting slightly by 0.6 percent in the second quarter of this year.

In the third quarter, the BSP said property prices in areas outside NCR also increased by 4.9 percent to 133.3 from 127.1.

The BSP said the number of real estate loans granted for all types of new housing units in the country jumped by 51.1 percent in the third quarter of the year. The purchase of new housing units accounted for 84.7 percent of the real estate loans.

Most of the loans granted in NCR were used to purchase condo units while loans granted in the provinces involved the acquisition of single-detached or attached houses last year.

More than a third of the real estate loans were disbursed in NCR followed by Calabarzon with 28.5 percent, Central Luzon with 13 percent, Central Visayas with five percent and Western Visayas with 4.7 percent.

Source: BSP