NEARLY 11 million Filipinas stopped looking for jobs in January as they were forced to just stay in the house and perform their domestic duties, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
PSA Assistant National Statistician Wilma A. Guillen told the BusinessMirror that there were a total of 28.87 million Filipinos who are not in the labor force (NITLF) in January 2019. This is 7.64 percent higher than the NITLF of 26.82 million recorded in January 2018.
Nearly 40 percent of the total, or 10.569 million, is composed of women who preferred to stay at home to attend to their duties to their families. However, this was a 2.15-percent contraction from the 10.8 million posted in January 2018.
“Data shows that persons not in the labor force increased to 28.86 million or an increase of 2.048 million. Of this 2.048 million persons increase, 973,000 are 15 to 24 years old who were added to the NITLF,” Guillen said.
The total of those in the NITLF due to household or family duties reached 11.604 million, a 0.16-percent increase from the 11.585 million in January 2018. Only 1.034 million of these individuals were males, which is 32.06 percent higher than the 783,000 recorded in January 2018.
Data also showed that some 10.119 million of the NITLF included those aged 15 and over who are not looking for work because of schooling. This was 9.22 percent higher than the 9.265 million recorded in January 2018.
Further, Guillen said, those aged 15 to 24 years old who were categorized as NITLF reached 9.875 million in January 2019 higher than the 9.265 million recorded a year ago.
Other reasons Filipinos gave for not being in the labor force are: too young/old or retired/permanent disability; wait for rehire/job recall; bad weather; temporary illness/disability; awaiting results of previous job application; tired/believe no work available; and looking for work but not available.
Guillen said those who are waiting to be rehired or recalled, stopped working due to bad weather or temporary illness/disability, tired and awaiting results of a previous job application “are counted NITLF if they are not currently available for work.” But if they are available for work, they are considered unemployed.
Based on the January Labor Force Survey (LFS), the country’s Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) declined to 60.2 percent in 2019 from 62.2 percent in 2018. Guillen said “this translates to a decline of 420,000 of 15 years old and over from the labor force.”
“The labor force population consists of the employed and the unemployed persons 15 years old and over,” the PSA said in a statement.
Jobless rate
The LFS results showed that the employment rate increased to 94.8 percent in January 2019 from 94.7 percent a year ago. There were 41.368 million employed Filipinos in January 2019 while there were 41.755 million in the same period last year.
The unemployment rate and underemployment rate also slowed to 5.2 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively. Unemployment eased from 5.3 percent while underemployment slowed from 18 percent in January 2018.
There were a total of 6.448 million Filipinos who were underemployed and 2.202 million who were considered unemployed. In January 2018, there were 7.498 million who were underemployed and 2.32 million who were unemployed.
“The decline in employment exceeds by far the decline in unemployment which suggests that those who did not report any employment left the labor force,” former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Emmanuel Esguerra said.
Another view
However, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon said the decline in the LFPR can be attributed to the increase in students going back to school or those wanting to focus on their studies.
This is understandable, Edillon said, since the group included the first graduates of the K-12 program and saw the first year of implementation of free tuition in State Universities and Colleges. Further, she said “there’s a lot more who are awaiting results and call for rehire.”
“The reduction in labor force participation is among the 15- to 24-year-olds. We don’t think it’s a fluke but rather the start of a new regime where youth would rather study than work,” Edillon said.
For his part, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said the improvement in employment rates as well as underemployment and unemployment speaks of the improving labor situation in the country.
However, Pernia said more needs to be done to further cut unemployment and underemployment. These efforts include efforts to implement well-thought-out and sustainable policies to improve employment growth, particularly in the agriculture sector and overall employment in the country.
Pernia said the continued decline in agricultural employment is also largely attributed to rising cost of inputs amid low profit, limited access to credit, poor infrastructure and vulnerability to environmental risks.
“The prevalence of low-productivity jobs in the agriculture sector remains a challenge. Sustainable solutions such as shifting rice farmers to high-value crops, promoting crop diversification, accelerating development of local infrastructure, and training for farmers on technological advances are critical to raising productivity in agriculture,” he said.
“The government must implement concrete and urgent interventions following the enactment of Republic Act 11203, or the Rice Industry Modernization Act, particularly for those stakeholders that will be displaced,” he added.
The LFS is a nationwide quarterly survey of households to gather data on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the population and provide statistics on trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment in the country.