OVER 9 million Filipinos searched for a living in 2018, with some seeking better-quality work to make ends meet, according to the latest report of the Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA).
The number of unemployed and underemployed this year reached 9.037 million Filipinos, which was 90,000 more than the 8.947 million recorded last year, preliminary data from the PSA’s annual Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed.
The increase in numbers, however, was driven by more Filipinos wanting to have better-quality jobs than those who are unemployed, PSA data indicated.
Underemployed Filipinos this year grew by 229,000 people to 6.735 million from 6.506 million recorded in 2017, the data showed.
About 53.2 percent of the underemployed Filipinos, or around 3.583 million, were visibly underemployed persons or those who were working less than 40 hours a week. The figure, however, was 1.65 percent lower than the 3.643 visibly underemployed Filipinos recorded last year, according to PSA data.
However, the data showed that the number of invisibly underemployed Filipino workers—or those already working over 40 hours weekly but would like more work —grew by 11.07 percent this year.
The PSA estimated that in 2018, there were some 3.071 million invisibly underemployed Filipinos, compared to the 2.765 million recorded in 2017. “By sector, 45.5 percent of the underemployed persons worked in the services sector, while 34.6 percent were in the agriculture sector. Those in the industry sector accounted for 19.9 percent,” the PSA said.
On the other hand, the unemployed declined by 5.69 percent to 2.302 million Filipinos from 2.441 million recorded last year, PSA data showed. The decline resulted in an annual unemployment rate of 5.3 percent this year compared to the 5.7 percent recorded in 2017.
“Among the unemployed persons in 2018, 75.2 percent belonged to age group 15 to 34 years old. Those in the age group 15 to 24 years composed 44.6 percent of the unemployed while those in the age group 25 to 34 years, 30.6 percent in 2018,” the PSA said.
“There were more unemployed males [63.2 percent] than unemployed females [36.8 percent]. By educational attainment, 21.0 percent of the unemployed were college graduates, 15.9 percent were college undergraduates, and 29.0 percent have completed junior high school,” it added.
Local economists earlier told the BusinessMirror that the country’s employment rate had risen on account of the increase in the number of Filipinos employed in low-quality jobs. The country’s employment rate in 2018 increased to 94.7 percent, or about 41.2 million Filipinos, compared to the 94.3 percent recorded last year, according to the PSA.
The country’s labor force participation rate in 2018 was estimated at 60.9 percent out of the 71.3 million Filipinos who were 15 years old and above, the PSA added.
“This is equivalent to about 43.5 million economically active population comprising of either employed or unemployed persons,” it said.
In 2017, labor force participation rate was at 61.2 percent of the 69.891 million population who were 15 years old and over, which translated to some 42.77 million Filipinos.