Upbeat
No. 19.12.14 ď Žď Ž No. 2122 10.30.2008
PHL's unemployment rate eases to 6% The Philippines' unemployment rate alleviated to 6% in October from July's 6.7% and 6.4% in the same month last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) from the Labor Force Survey's (LFS) initial results. "The drop in unemployment is a welcome development..." Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Associate Economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa said. Making up to 53.7% of the total employed in October 2014, the employees of the services sector continue to have the largest proportion of the employed population. Knowledge Management and Information Service Makati City, Philippines Tel.: (632) 895.3611 Fax: (632) 895.6487 publications@dti.gov.ph
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The year-on-year comparative data excluded Leyte province from the October 2013 labor and employment report for good comparison with the latest October results, the PSA explained.
Meanwhile, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan noted the improvement in the quality of jobs over the period. “The improved employment numbers also translated to better quality jobs as around 1.03M of the total employment generated in October 2014 were considered full time. Consistent with this is the increase in remunerative wage and salary workers, particularly in private establishments,� he said. Balisacan noted that the employment growth provides the government a positive stance on the Philippines’ economic performance in the fourth quarter of 2014. On the other hand, he mentioned that the Aquino Administration needs to withstand the implementation of a multidimensional approach to raise investment, mostly in the rural areas, and improve productivity, as well as income per capita in the country.