Philippines should further reopen economy following drop in number of jobless —Palace

Malacañang on Tuesday said the Philippines should further reopen the economy after a survey found that the number of jobless Filipinos dropped in November last year. 

A survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) found adult joblessness at 27.3% or an estimated 12.7 million adults in November 2020, representing a 12-point drop from the 39.5% in September or 23.7 million adults.

Before the COVID-19 crisis, joblessness was at 17.5% in December 2019. 

“Malungkot po tayo na hindi pa rin bumabalik sa dating datos ang ating joblessness bago tayo nasalanta ng COVID-19,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a press briefing. 

“We find solace in the fact that bumaba nga po itong joblessness. Ito po ang dahilan kung bakit kinakailangang magbukas pa rin tayo ng ekonomiya nang sa ganoon mas marami sa ating mga kababayan ang makapagtrabaho.”

SWS said adults who are jobless consist of those who voluntarily left their old jobs, are seeking jobs for the first time, or lost their jobs due to economic circumstances beyond their control.

The Philippines registered in 2020 its worst gross domestic product (GDP) contraction in over seven decades. The country’s GDP shrank to -9.5% in 2020 largely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua, however, said last week that the prospects for 2021 were “encouraging.”

Chua said the continuous calibrated reopening of businesses and mass transportation and the relaxation of age group restrictions would spur economic activity in the months ahead. 

"This will lead to a strong recovery before the end of the year when the government will have rolled out enough vaccines against COVID-19 for a majority of our people,” he said. —KG, GMA News