DOLE: Over 2M workers affected by business closures amid COVID-19

Over 2 million workers have already been affected by closures of business establishments, both temporary and permanent, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Thursday.

According to DOLE Assistant Secretary Dominique Rubia-Tutay, there have been 9,548 establishments that have already been forced to permanently closed, affecting 180,207 workers.

There have also been some 83,654 establishments with 2 million workers that temporarily closed, while another 28,881 establishments with 1.2 million workers have gone on flexible work arrangements.

The latest figures were released via virtual briefing on Thursday, after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported the July employment data.

Unemployment eased to 10% in July, equivalent to 4.6 million jobless Filipinos, after registering a record-high of 17.7% in April.

"We would like to state that we are very much happy with the improvement of our labor market situation compared to April 2020," said Tutay.

"With the gradual opening of other sectors, we expect that the employment situation in the country hopefully by next year," she added. —KBK, GMA News