HIGH unemployment rates will likely persist without sufficient government intervention in the workforce, labor groups said on Monday.
Partido Manggagawa (PM) chairman Renato Magtubo said the government should be proactive in addressing high joblessness by generating additional jobs instead of just relying on the private sector.
“The new administration should innovate job generation activities such as the public employment program,” Magtubo said.
For his part, Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President Sonny Matula pushed for the approval of the proposed P100-billion stimulus package to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME).
He said the measure will help MSMEs recover from the business disruption caused by the pandemic.
“There is slight improvement [in the labor force] but still job creation should be prioritized by this administration and also unemployment insurance/assistance,” Matula said.
Both labor leaders made their pronouncements after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Monday that the unemployment rate in June remained at 6 percent, or equivalent to 2.99 million jobless workers.
This was higher compared to the 2.93 million unemployed employees last May.
Magtubo attributed the stagnation in unemployment rate to the “lousy economic recovery program” of the previous administration.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes