MANILA, Philippines- Bumagsak ang unemployment rate ng Pilipinas nito lamang buwan ng Setyembre subalit umakyat naman underemployment.
Sa report ng Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), sinabi nito na ang jobless rate ay bumagsak sa 3.7% nito lamang Setyembre ng taong kasalukuyan mula 4% noong Agosto at 4.5% naman sa Setyembre 2023. Nangangahulugan ito na 1.89 milyong manggagawang Filipino ang ‘unemployed’ noong Setyembre.
Samantala, umakyat naman ang underemployment rate sa 11.9% noong Setyembre mula 11.2% noong Agosto at 10.7% noong Setyembre ng nakaraang taon.
Nangangahulugan ito na 5.94 milyong manggagawa ang underemployed noong Setyembre.
Para sa PSA, ang underemployment ay nangangahulugan na ang mga manggagawa na nawalan ng trabaho ay naghahanap ng extra jobs o job hours. Ang mataas na underemployment rate ay kadalasang nakikita bilang pahiwatig na ang available na mga trabaho ay ‘low quality.’
Ang wage at salary workers ay nakapagtala ng 63.9% ng kabuuang bilang ng employed persons noong Setyembre. Sumunod naman ang self-employed persons na may 27.4% at unpaid family workers na may 6.6%.
“Workers in own or family-operated farms or businesses had the lowest share of 2.1 percent,” ayon sa PSA sabay sabing, “Employees in private firms had the highest share of wage and salary workers at 76.6 percent. Employees in government or government-controlled corporations meanwhile accounted for 14.9 percent of salary workers.”
Nananatili naman ang services sector na ‘top source of jobs’ na may 62.8% ng 49.87 million employed persons noong Setyembre.
Ang agriculture sector ay mayroon namang 19.9% employed persons habang ang industry sector ay may 17.4% ng employed persons.
“Broken down by industry, administrative and support service activities brought in the most jobs at 735,000 year-on-year. Other service activities, which include repair of computers and domestic services, had 559,000 new jobs this year,” ayon sa PSA.
Ang wholesale at retail trade at pagkukumpuni ng motor vehicles at motorsiklo ay mayroong 486,000 karagdagang trabaho. Sinundan ito ng public administration at defense at compulsory social security na may 333,000 trabaho, at manufacturing na may 200,000 na trabaho.
Sa kabilang dako, ang mga sektor na mayroong malaking pagbaba ng job numbers ay ang ‘accommodation at food service activities (242,000), agriculture at forestry (210,000), at fishing at aquaculture (136,000).
Samantala, sinabi ni Undersecretary at National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa na ang malaking bilang ng mga tao lalo na ng mga kababaihan ang pumasok sa labor market, subalit hindi naman lahat ay nakakuha ng full-time employment.
“Year-on-year, you have a substantial increase in the labor market you consider as employed, which is about 2.21 million yung ating increase,” ang sinabi ni Mapa, sabay sabing 1.34 million ay pawang mga kababaihan.
At sa tanong kung mas maraming tao ang underemployed dahil mas marami ang naghahanap ng trabaho sa panahon ng holidays, sinabi ni Mapa na: “Yes, because of the holiday season, more [want] to work, kaya tumaas yung ating employment rate, in terms of both the rate and the numbers, but hindi lahat na-absorb as like full-time.”
Base sa datos ng mga nakalipas na mga taon, sinabi ni Mapa na iyong mga naghahanap ng trabaho ay dapat na tumingin sa retail trade.
“May expectation tayo doon ano, magsisimula sa October yung mga bazaar, yung mga markets, may mga activities tayo,” aniya pa rin.
“Tapos yung accommodation services, yung mga hotels, resorts, restaurants. Yun din yung may pagtaas. Supermarkets, yung mga grocery stores. So normally, ito yung mga nagha-hire ng seasonal workers during the last quarter,” pahayag ni Mapa.
“There may be a drop in jobs in the agriculture sector after the onslaught of severe tropical storm Kristine, but these may be offset by the number of seasonal workers hired by retail trade and the accommodation and food services who hire seasonal employees as the holidays draw near,” patuloy ng opisyal.
Tinuran naman ni National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan na ipagpapatuloy ng pamahalaan ang pagtugon sa mga hadlang sa high-quality job creation.
“We will strengthen collaboration with the private sector and academe to upskill the workforce, particularly in using digital technologies and other innovations,” giit ni Balisacan. Kris Jose
