By Brian Jules Campued
The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. remains committed to enhancing job quality by creating an enabling environment to attract more local and foreign investments in the Philippines, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Friday.
NEDA made the statement following the release of the latest Labor Force Survey results which showed a lower unemployment rate of 4.5% in January 2024 compared to the 4.8% recorded in the same month last year.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), this jobless rate corresponded to about 2.15 million individuals in January this year from the reported number of unemployed persons of 2.38 million in January 2023.
In a press briefing, National Statistician and PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa added that the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) was logged at 61.1% or at least 48.09 million Filipinos aged 15 years and above who were either employed or unemployed.
This is also lower than the registered LFPR in January 2023 at 64.5% or translating to about 1.6 million fewer individuals in the labor force.
Most of the contraction was recorded among women (-1.3 million), the youth cohort (-1.0 million), and junior high school graduates (-652,000) mainly due to household duties, age-related restrictions, and schooling among other reasons.
“The return to onsite work has limited women’s participation to 49.3% from 53.7% in January 2023. Similarly, completely on-site schooling has brought the youth LFPR down to 29.6% from 34.8% in the same period last year,” according to NEDA’s statement.
Meanwhile, the underemployment rate in January 2024 was recorded at 13.9% compared to January 2023’s 14.1% rate.
“In terms of magnitude, about 6.39 million of the 45.94 million employed individuals expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work in January 2024,” the PSA data summarized.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan maintained the government’s resolve to also strengthen linkages between industry, the academe, and the public sector to address skill mismatches in the labor market.
“We will remain responsive to the needs of vulnerable groups, including women, youth, older individuals, and those with disabilities. Our existing policy framework governing alternative work arrangements will be revisited,” Balisacan added.
The NEDA chief said he is looking forward to the implementation of more positive and transformative employment programs after the approval of the implementing rules and regulations of the “Trabaho Para sa Bayan” Act on Tuesday.
The law aims to promote employability, competitiveness, and productivity of workers, and to address issues like underemployment and unemployment.
“Our pursuit of policies will be adaptive to the responsibilities of female workers and the evolving work landscape, with a focus on supporting the vulnerable, including those in the creative sector,” Balisacan pointed out.
Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto, for his part, emphasized the Growth-Enhancing Actions and Resolutions (GEARs) plan allows the DOF to expedite investment processes such as implementing pro-business reforms, improving the regulatory regime, reducing the cost of doing business, and addressing constraints.
The GEARs plan ensures that the Philippines will achieve a growth-enhancing fiscal consolidation to create a favorable environment for employment-generating investments, Recto said.
“The ease of doing business is what builds investment-led growth that creates more quality jobs in a land whose talents far outstrip opportunities that could harness them,” Recto said in a statement.
The government will also continue to implement Marcos’ Build Better More infrastructure program to generate more employment and investments as well as leveraging the private sector capital as enacted in the Public-Private Partnership Code.
The Finance Chief also wants to increase funding for human capital development programs in order to equip Filipinos for better job opportunities.
“Our greatest asset is our people. This is something even countries worldwide recognize. Thus, we will prioritize empowering them further by investing heavily in human capital development to prime and prepare them for the best and the brightest opportunities ahead,” Recto said. – avds
