Neda pushes for nationwide alert level 1 to spur more employment

INQUIRER.net file photo

MANILA, Philippines — Implementing the lowest alert level 1 nationwide will fast-track the return of more employment opportunities as joblessness in the country remained among the highest in emerging Asia, the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said.

“To help insulate the economy from external pressures, there is a need to shift the entire country to alert level 1,” Neda said in a report on Monday, mainly referring to the spillover impact on the global economy of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

At the start of April, 79 percent of the economy were already under alert level 1 pandemic restrictions amid further reopening of more productive sectors. “The easing of classification in the remaining areas will help generate more employment and income opportunities,” Neda said.

Alongside shifting to alert level 1 and ramping up mass vaccination against COVID-19, Neda said “resumption of face-to-face learning is needed.”

“Parents can return to full-time employment as more children go back to school. The resumption of face-to-face classes will also minimize the loss of future productivity as a result of online or modular learning,” Neda said.

Neda was pushing to maximize the shift to alert level 1 as the Philippines’ unemployment rates of a similar 6.4 percent in January and February were only behind India’s 8.1-percent jobless rate last February.

Based on the latest unemployment data collected by Neda, the jobless rates in Vietnam (2.8 percent in March), China (3.9 percent last December), and Malaysia (4.2 percent) were lower than in the Philippines.

While the 6.4 percent posted in both the first two months of this year was the lowest unemployment rate amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the number of jobless rose to 3.13 million last February as more and more Filipinos in the labor force looked for work amid further economic reopening.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Neda chief Karl Kendrick Chua earlier told the Inquirer that the February round of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) monthly labor force survey (LFS) showed improving quantity and quality of jobs, although more employment could be generated once the entire country is placed under the lowest alert level 1 restriction.

The labor force population — employed or unemployed active in the job market aged 15 and above — rose to 48.61 million from 45.94 million in January. A bigger share of the labor force — 63.8 percent last February compared to January’s 60.5 percent — participated or sought jobs as many parts of the country shifted to the lower alert level 2 after COVID-19 infections subsided following a surge at the start of this year due to the more contagious Omicron variant.

The larger labor force population and participation rate meant an also bigger base, hence the similar 6.4-percent unemployment rate in February as January’s even as the first month of the year had a lower number of jobless Filipinos, at 2.93 million.

The latest LFS showed that Filipinos who actively looked for jobs in February rose to 1.94 million from 1.16 million in the previous month.

Also, the number of unemployed due to COVID-19-related restrictions fell to 385,000 last February from last January’s 813,000.

The less restrictive alert level in February allowed an additional 2.8 million Filipinos to resume permanent jobs, especially in the agriculture, retail trade and food services sectors.

As such, the same 93.6-percent employment rates in the first two months yielded a higher number of employed to 45.48 million in February from 43.02 million in January.

The rate of underemployment — laborers who wanted more working hours and higher-paying jobs — also improved to 14 percent last February from 14.9 percent last January.

The number of underemployed Filipinos were also fewer at 6.38 million in February from January’s 6.4 million.

Chua had noted that the labor force participation went up, “consistent” with more economic reopening under alert level 2 that month. “The underemployment is lower, also consistent with the reopening after the Omicron [episode], so both quantity and quality of jobs are keeping up,” Chua had said.

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