17 Trend on Unemployment Rate

2. Accelerating Inclusive Growth and Decent Jobs4: Some Disparities

The 2015 Technical SONA report claimed that the sustained growth during the PNoy presidency contributed to a marked increase in employment, with over 4 million individuals5 added to the number of employed from 2010 to 2014. Further, it also pointed out that unemployment rate declined from 7.4% in 2010 to 6.8% in 2014, which was the lowest since 2005. By April 2015, unemployment rate was 6.4%6 .

The 2015 SONA Technical Report also cited a 2014 Gallup poll on local job opportunities in 145 countries, which mentioned that 66% of respondents in the Philippines said that it was a good time to find a job in the country, “making the Philippines the most optimistic about finding a job among 22 Asia Pacific countries and second globally, next only to Turkmenistan.”

Turning to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Philippine Office for employment statistics, main reference is made to an ILO account on Philippine Employment Trends for 2015, which reported that during the fiveyear period, employment expanded by more than 4 million (or 11.8%), from 34 million (2008) to 38.1 million (2013) International Labor Organization (2015). It said this trend was “just sufficient to keep pace with the rapid growth in the labor force.”

The report also said that “women’s employment increased at a faster pace than that for men (14% compared to 10.5%), although men still represent three in five of all employed persons,” thus depicting a gender disparity in the employment status.

But while employment rate has seemingly increased internally, the picture when compared outside the country may not be as rosy. In a digital portal Inquirer.Net (Nov.22, 2015) brief report after the ASEAN Summit in 2015 showing how the Philippines fared, it was stated that among the ASEAN member countries, the Philippines has the highest unemployment rate. Inquirer.Net reported that as of 2013, the Philippines had the highest unemployment rate in the region at 7.1%, followed by Indonesia with 6.3%. Cambodia and Thailand post the lowest percentages at 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively7 .

4 Borrowed sub-title from an ILO Report on Philippine Employment Trends for 2015. This section borrows data heavily from this Report. 5 From 2010 to 2014, there were an average of over 800,000 new entrants in the labor force. 6 Note that 2014 data exclude Region VIII and April 2015 data exclude Leyte, as cited from the SONA 2015 Technical Report. 7 Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/132498/inquirerseven-philippines-comparison-asean-countries-southeastasia-economy-internet-population-tourism-unemployment#ixzz4dtVBiY2B 47