Adult unemployment reaches record-high 45.5% in July — SWS

MANILA, Philippines — Nearly half of the country’s adult labor force was jobless in July 2020, a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed Sunday.

According to the National Mobile Phone Survey conducted by SWS from July 3-6, 2020, adult unemployment in the Philippines rose to 45.5%, a 28-point increase from 17.1% in December 2019, and a new record high from the 34.4% logged in March 2012.

The estimated number of jobless adults was at 27.3 million in July 2020 and 7.9 million in December 2019, the pollster reported.

The July 2020 survey likewise showed that the adult labor force participation rate is at 86.4% for an estimated 60.0 million adults.  This is an increase from 68.7% in December 2019 for an estimated 45.5 million adults.

The SWS defines the labor force as adults (18 years old and above) presently with a job or are looking for a job. The labor force participation rate is the proportion of adults in the labor force.

Adults who are jobless consists of those who had voluntarily left their old jobs, who are seeking jobs for the first time, or those who lost their jobs due to economic circumstances beyond their control.

Half of the respondents lost their jobs or livelihood during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, the SWS noted.

The other half of the unemployed said they lost their jobs before the pandemic hit the country.

The survey, conducted using a mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing of 1,555 adult Filipinos, also showed that those who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 crisis was highest in Balance Luzon (23 percent), followed by Visayas (19 percent), Mindanao (19 percent), and Metro Manila (18 percent).

/MUF