By Brian Jules Campued
The government remains committed to creating more high-quality jobs for Filipinos and fostering a resilient workforce as the Philippines logged about 2 million jobless individuals in March this year, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.
In a statement, NEDA Sec. Arsenio Balisacan said the Marcos administration will continue to prioritize generating well-paying jobs to address vulnerable employment.
“We will focus on attracting job-generating investments from the private sector and scaling up social and physical infrastructure to improve our people’s employment prospects to achieve this goal,” Balisacan stated.
“These will be accompanied by reskilling and upskilling programs to increase employability,” he added.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday reported the unemployment rate in March 2024 was estimated at 3.9%, lower than the recorded 4.7% in March last year.
However, said jobless rate was higher than the 3.5% logged in February 2024.
In a briefing, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the number of unemployed Filipinos during the month declined from 2.42 million in March 2023 — translating to about 417,000 fewer unemployed individuals.
According to the latest Labor Force Survey, the employment rate was registered at 96.1% in March 2024, higher than the 95.3% recorded in March last year.
Balisacan attributed the employment gains to several sectors, such as the wholesale and retail trade sector, which saw the highest annual increase of 963,000 additionally employed individuals.
This was followed by the manufacturing sector with 553,000 new jobs and the public administration and defense sector with 229,000 additional employed Filipinos.
Meanwhile, the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in March 2024 was recorded at 65.3% or about 51.15 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and above who were either employed or unemployed.
The number of underemployed persons – or those who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their current job or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work – went down to 11.0% in March 2024 from 11.2% in March 2023.
Balisacan said a medium- and long-term Foreign Investment Promotion and Marketing Plan is in the works and is targeted to be completed by June 30 through the Inter-Agency Investment Promotion Coordination Committee.
The government is also eyeing to enrich the content of training programs for workers and employers by integrating courses on advanced productivity tools such as data science, analytics, and artificial intelligence, the NEDA chief added.
“For the government to sustain a robust labor market and reap the benefits of the demographic dividend, it must ensure that people are healthy, educated, and skilled,” he said.
He, likewise, called for the passage of the Apprenticeship Bill, Lifelong Learning Bill, the Enterprise Productivity Act, and the Konektadong Pinoy Bill.
The conduct of a timely review of the minimum wage rate and the study on the improvement of the wage adjustment process will also help in sustaining employment gains while safeguarding workers’ purchasing power amid inflation.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Sec. Amenah Pangandaman earlier said the DBM is set to finalize a comprehensive study on the potential salary adjustment for government workers will be completed by the first half of 2024.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said unemployed Filipinos may avail DSWD programs and services, subject to assessment of social workers and provided they meet the eligibility requirements.
Those who are in need of assistance, including those in crisis due to job loss, may avail the agency’s services such as the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), and the Project LAWA (Local Adaptation to Water Access) and BINHI (Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished).
“Through the various programs of the DSWD, we aim to help jobless Filipinos by capacitating them to strengthen their skills, competencies, and resources in accessing income-generating opportunities to help improve their socio-economic well-being,” DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said in a news release Wednesday. – avds
