IMAGE Daniella Marie Agacer from INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines — The downturn of the inflation rate has boosted consumers’ spending power and created more jobs, Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon of the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) said on Friday.
Based on the latest data, inflation eased to 1.9 percent in September, falling short of market forecasts and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) projected range of 2 to 2.8 percent for the month.
The year-to-date inflation rate averaged 3.4 percent — well within the 2 to 4 percent target the Neda and BSP set.
“Our view here is that inflation played a role in this. Since inflation eased, consumers have become more confident about spending, and of course, when demand increases, there is also a corresponding rise in employment,” Edillon said in Filipino at a “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” briefing.
According to her, today’s labor market is solid, and several factors contributed to the downtrend of the unemployment rate to 4 percent.
“Actually, we refer to our labor market as strong — our labor market is very strong,” she said.
“Our unemployment rate dropped to 4 percent, and one factor that contributed to this was the gradual recovery of our tourism industry. We observed an increase in employment, for example, in accommodations, restaurants, and even in the arts and entertainment sectors,” she added.
Preliminary results from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) August Labor Force Survey (LFS) revealed that the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest in two months, matching the 3.1 percent recorded in June, which equates to 2.07 million unemployed Filipinos.
This figure is an improvement from the 4.7 percent jobless rate reported in the previous month and the 4.4 percent recorded in the same period last year. The employment rate reached its highest level in two months, matching June’s 96.9 percent.
“So, data we’re seeing is good, and other sectors like wholesale and retail trade activities also helped in the growth of employment,” Edillon said.