Jobless Pinoys increase amid stellar GDP growth

Unemployment worsened in April despite recent economic strides as extreme weather conditions curbed jobs in the agriculture sector, which employs 31 percent of Filipino workers. 

 

At a press briefing Tuesday, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Assistant Director General Rose Edillon said the number of unemployed Filipinos surged to 7.5 percent in April from 6.9 percent a year earlier. 

  

The labor force consists of Pinoys aged 15 years and over who are employed or are actively looking for jobs. 

 

Of the 40.9 million people in the labor force, 3.09 million were out of a job.

 

Some 7.25 million employed Filipinos want to work more hours or have additional jobs. 

 

"The decline in employment was mainly in agriculture," said Edillon, noting the extreme weather conditions due to the searing heat caused by El Niño phenomenon. 

 

Some 624,000 jobs were lost in the agriculture sector, according to the latest Labor Force Survey. 

 

The Bureau of Agriculture Statistics reported that farmers were hesitant to plant amid the impending El Niño phenomenon, while others were still recovering from typhoons Pablo and Quinto which battered the country in the fourth quarter of last year. 

 

"One of the main challenges of the country is the seasonality of agricultural employment," NEDA Deputy Director General Emmanuel Esguerra noted in a statement. 

 

The industry and services sectors generated 224,000 and 380,000 additional jobs, respectively, in April. 

 

As such, Edillon clarified that the 7.8 percent economic expansion in the first quarter is "not a jobless growth."

 

"We were creating jobs in manufacturing and services which were the drivers of growth in the first quarter," she noted. 

 

Robust growth in services and manufacturing bolstered the Philippines as Asia's fastest growing economy in January to March.

 

The government has vowed to strengthen agriculture through crops diversification and development of agro-based industries. 

 

"Greater diversification of agricultural production and further processing of by-products should be encouraged," said Esguerra. 

 

Edillon said the government is now reviewing its 6.5 percent unemployment rate target by 2016. 

 

But initiatives such as "increasing employability of new job entrants and addressing seasonality of agricultural employment" will remain at the forefront of the governments battle against poverty, she added. 

 

Joblessness has been blamed for the country's stubbornly high 27.9 percent poverty rate as of June last year amid a strong economy. — VS/ELR, GMA News