180k Filipinos lost their jobs due to COVID-19 pandemic — DOLE

About 180,000 Filipinos lost their jobs in the country due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Department of Labor and Employment said.

According to a report on “24 Oras News Alert” on Wednesday, DOLE’s job placement monitoring stated that workers lost their jobs due to retrenchment and closing of several companies.

So far, the National Capital Region recorded the highest number with a total 89,531 Filipinos losing their jobs, followed by Region IV-A.

A recent poll of the Social Weather Stations revealed that adult joblessness in the country rose to a record-high of 45.5% in July with half of the unemployed saying they lost their jobs during the health crisis.

According to the results of the SWS National Mobile Phone Survey, adult joblessness rose by 28 percentage points from 17.5% in December 2019, to overtake the previous record high of 34.4% in March 2012.

The SWS qualified jobless adults as those who voluntarily left their jobs, those seeking jobs for the first time, or those who lost their jobs due to economic circumstances beyond their control.

Malacañang, meanwhile, said the record-high adult joblessness in July beat expectations as the country’s labor situation could have been worse amid the pandemic.—Ma. Angelica Garcia/AOL, GMA News