Palace: Despite uptick in unemployment, labor participation increased, too

FILE PHOTO: Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles

MANILA, Philippines — Even if unemployment in the country increased last month, labor participation also went up, Malacañang asserted Thursday, adding that better numbers are expected in the coming months.

“Kailangan natin ilagay ito sa tamang perspektibo at konstekto. Bagamat umakyat ng .1 yung unemployment, tandaan natin na tumaas din ‘yung labor force participation,” pointed out Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles.

(We need to put this in the right perspective and context. Even though the unemployment rate increased by .1 percent, we need to remember that labor participation also increased.)

This comes after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recorded an uptick in the country’s unemployment rate at 6.6 percent or 3.27 million Filipinos in December 2021 – a slight increase from the 6.5 percent or 3.16 million jobless Filipinos logged the month prior.

READ: PSA: Number of unemployed Filipinos rises to 3.27 million in Dec. 2021

According to Nograles, an increase in labor participation means many Filipinos who were out of the labor force have returned in December.

“Marami rin ang bumalik sa labor force, so mas marami sa kababayan natin na dating wala sa labor force o umalis sa labor, bumalik sa labor force,” he explained.

(Many Filipinos who were not in the labor force returned to the labor force.)

Nograles then touted the decrease in the country’s underemployment rate from 16.7% in November to 14.7% in December.

He also said that these figures were recorded in the previous months and better numbers are to be expected in the coming months of this year as the country continues to ease pandemic restrictions, including the reopening of tourism.

“Mas ma-expect pa natin na ‘yung January, February, March and so on and so forth, especially with the opening ng turismo right now sa February, we expect better numbers in the coming months of 2022,” the Palace official said.

(We expect better numbers in January, February, March, and so on and so forth especially with the opening of tourism in February.)

“We expect more of our kababayans going back to the labor force. Getting back to work again, mas marami nang kabuhayan, makapagtrabaho, employed at mas mababa ang ating underemployment and better economic numbers generally for the country,” he added.

(We expect more Filipinos to go back to the labor force. Getting back to work again, more livelihoods and lower underemployment and better economic numbers generally for the country.)

The PSA said the unemployment rate recorded in December last year is the second-lowest since January 2021.

The employment rate, meanwhile, slightly dropped from 93.5 percent in November 2021 to 93.4 percent in December 2021, said the PSA.

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