Jobless rate higher in April

Labor market conditions slightly worsened in April, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed on Friday, with the numbers of Filipinos without jobs or looking for more work rising from a month and a year earlier.

Unemployment edged up to 4.1 percent from 3.9 percent in March and the year-ago 4.0 percent, equivalent to an estimated 2.06 million jobless Filipinos — higher than the prior month's 1.93 million and the year-earlier 2.04 million.

Underemployment — a measure of those wanting more hours of work or an additional job — rose to 14.6 percent, unchanged from a year ago but higher than March's 13.4 million.

This was equivalent to an estimated 7.09 million Filipinos and was higher than the 6.44 million and 7.04 million respectively recorded in a month earlier and in April 2024.

Labor force expands

National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa explained that the rise in the jobless rate was caused by an increase in the number of people entering the labor force.

The labor force participation rate, which measures how much of the working-age population is employed or looking for work, rose to 63.7 percent in April, up from March's 62.9 percent but lower than April 2024's 64.1 percent.

Mapa said that not all of the 340,000 individuals that had joined the workforce were able to find employment.

The number of individuals with jobs reached 48.67 million, higher than March's 48.02 million and the year-ago 48.35 million.

The country's labor force numbered 50.73 million in April, up from 49.96 million in March and 50.39 million a year earlier.

The youth LFPR rose to 31.8 percent from 29.4 percent in the prior month, but eased from April 2024's 32.6 percent.

Unemployment in this sector rose to 11.5 percent from 11.0 percent in March and 10.5 percent a year ago, while underemployment eased to 13.4 percent from 14.1 percent and 13.8 percent a month and a year earlier.

The service sector remained the biggest employer with a 61.9-percent share, followed by agriculture at 20.6 percent and industry at 17.5 percent.

Wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons at 63.2 percent.

Wage hike worry

With the House of Representatives having approved a P200 per day pay hike for all minimum wage earners in the country, Mapa said the agency would be monitoring which sectors would be particularly affected should the bill become law.

"The PSA will monitor and look into which sectors show increases or decreases. Normally, different sectors are affected, but right now, we can't tell yet because it hasn't been implemented," he said.

"The impact on the different sub-sectors of our labor market may vary."

The proposal still has to be approved by the Senate, which last year passed a measure calling for a P100 increase, and any reconciled version needs to be passed by Congress as a whole.

Malacañang, meanwhile, said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would be weighing the economic impact before deciding whether to approve or veto the bill.

Lawmakers have come under fire from business groups, which said that a legislated nationwide wage hike disregards regional disparities and could lead to job losses. They also said that existing law states that wage-setting should be done by regional wage boards.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort agreed with the warning, saying "some businesses, especially those facing challenges on sales, could reduce workers due to higher wages or could even close down and lead to more job losses."

"Some foreign investors could also consider other countries with lower labor costs and overall cost of production, as another risk that could lead to foregone investment and employment opportunities, or could lead to some shift in operations to other countries with lower labor costs and overall production costs," he added.

Resilient labor market

Despite the slight uptick in unemployment, Socioeconomic Planning Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillion said that the Philippine labor market continues to demonstrate resilience amid global headwinds.

"We remain on track to meet our target unemployment range of 4.4 to 4.7 percent set under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028," she said in a statement.

"Also, we are optimistic about further improving our labor force in the months and years ahead, especially with the rollout of the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Plan and the influx of new investments."

Edillon outlined government efforts to boost jobseekers' and workers' employability, including improvements to the technical-vocational-livelihood track in senior high school, internships for new graduates and skills training.

To help workers stay adaptable, she stressed the need to prioritize a national policy on lifelong learning. Supporting this will be proper implementation of the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Programs.

Edillon also said that the government would keep pushing for measures that increase the productivity of local industries, especially those that offer better-quality jobs, to strengthen the labor market against global challenges.

"Attracting more investments to generate higher-quality and better-paying jobs, particularly in manufacturing and higher-value-added services, and expanding into new markets is essential to broadening our economy and opening up more job opportunities for Filipino workers," she said.

Source: Manila Times