PH unemployment rate rose in April 2021 after ECQ reimposition

READY TO ROLL A program launched by the Department of Labor and Employment and its partners last year gave these housewives bicycles fitted with thermal bags to help displaced workers or head of families find an alternative source of income in the food delivery business. They also received raincoats, helmets and mobile phones. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — The number of unemployed individuals in the country rose to 4.14 million in April 2021 following the reimposition of stricter quarantine classification in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Tuesday.

The PSA said the number of unemployed individuals in the country in April 2021 is higher than the 3.44 million recorded in March. The April 2021 unemployment numbers correspond to an 8.7 percent unemployment rate, which is higher than the 7.1 percent reported in March.

Employed individuals, meanwhile, stood at 43.27 million in April 2021, said PSA.

“Employment rate in the country posted a month-on-month decline in April 2021 when Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ)/Modified ECQ was  re-imposed in the National Capital Region and nearby areas: from a 92.9 percent employment rate in March 2021, it dropped to 91.3 percent this April 2021,” the PSA said in its report.

Nonetheless, the PSA noted that the 8.7 percent unemployment rate in April 2021 is “substantially lower” than the record high 17.6 percent in recorded in April last year.

“The unemployment rate in April 2021 was the same/about the same as the rate reported in October 2020 (8.7%), January 2021 (8.7%), and February 2021 (8.8%),” the PSA said in its report.

Further, the PSA reported that underemployment rate–or employed persons who expressed desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work–stood at 17.2 percent in April 2021.

EDV