Unemployment rate slightly up in ’13

The jobless rate in the Philippines averaged 7.3 percent in 2013, up from 7 percent of the previous year despite the economy’s expansion.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) yesterday reported that, of the country’s 40.96 million-strong labor force, 2.99 million were unemployed this year.

The figures cited by the NSO were culled from its Labor Force Survey reports for January, April and July.

The statistics office also reported that the underemployment rate settled at 19.8 percent this year, slightly better than the 20 percent recorded in 2012.

The underemployment rate refers to the proportion of employed people who are looking for additional work.

Of the 37.98 million Filipinos who do have jobs, nearly 7.51 million are considered underemployed, the NSO said.

Economists noted that, despite the robust growth of the economy, the unemployment rate in the Philippines continued to rise.

This means growth of the economy has been “non-inclusive,” driven mainly by the rising income of the rich and middle class, while the poor remain poor, they said.

The Philippines grew by 7.4 percent in the first three quarters of 2013, becoming one of the fastest growing economies in Asia.

Government economic officials estimated that the full-year growth figure would settle between 6.5 and 7 percent.

But the officials clarified that, although the economy did well this year, people should not expect this to mean that there would be a substantial drop in the unemployment rate.

Arsenio Balisacan, director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), said a country would need to sustain strong growth over the long term before it could make a significant dent on employment.

“Our neighboring countries that have managed to reduce unemployment rates have been growing robustly for decades. On the contrary, it was only recently that the Philippines started to register robust economic growth rates,” Balisacan told reporters earlier.

Balisacan, who also serves as the country’s economic planning secretary, cited the improvement on the underemployment front.

He said this signaled that the quality of existing jobs had improved, such as in terms of pay.

But the country’s chief economist said that, despite the advancements, the country would still need to attract more investments to create good-quality jobs.