Unemployment rate eases to 6.1% in April – PSA

The ranks of jobless Filipinos dipped in April from a year-earlier while the number of the underemployed rose in the same month, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed on Thursday.

A labor expert noted the campaign period, fueled by election spending, created job opportunities in the the run up to the May polls.

According to the latest labor force survey (LFS), there were 66.805 million Filipinos 15 years and above in April, of which 42.487 million or 63.6 percent were counted as part of the labor force.

The PSA estimated the unemployed at 2.594 million for an unemployment rate of 6.1 percent.

This compares with an unemployment rate of 6.4 percent in April 2015.

The data for April 2015 did not include the island of Leyte, since official records were destroyed by Super typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) when it hit the province in November 2013.

The highest unemployment rates were registered in the National Capital Region (NCR) at 7.7 percent, Ilocos Region at 7.5 percent, CALABARZON at 7.5 percent, and Central Luzon at 7.1 percent.

Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo noted additional job opportunities were created during the campaign period in the run up to the May elections.

"Election spending generating temporary jobs," Ofreneo, director of the Center for Labor Justice-UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations, told GMA News Online.

The national underemployment rate grew to 18.4 percent equivalent to 7.351 million workers from 17.8 percent. Using the same criteria in April, underemployment still rose to 18.2 percent.

The underemployed are people with the desire to have more working hours, or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours, according to the PSA.

Overall, the national employment rate grew slightly to 93.9 percent, equivalent to 39.916 million, from the 93.6 percent year-on-year.

"Workers in the services sector comprised the largest proportion of the population who are employed," the PSA said. Workers in this field make up 56.7 percent of the employed.

The agriculture sector employed 25.0 percent, and the industry sector 18.3 percent of the labor force participants. – VDS, GMA News