Jobless Filipinos down by 1.6M, says labor chief

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–From 37.01 million in April 2013, the number of employed Filipinos rose to 38.66 million during the same period this year, or an increase of 1.65 million jobs nationwide.

This was reported Wednesday by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, citing the April 2014 Labor Force Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Barring any major setbacks, she expressed optimism the next PSA labor survey “will sustain the country’s robust employment situation.”

“This optimism is anchored on the overall efforts and commitment of the government, including the Department of Labor and Employment, to implement programs, projects and services that facilitate employment and make the business climate conducive for job generation,” she said.

In a statement, Baldoz said that 14 regions nationwide recorded employment gains: Calabarzon with 325,000 new jobs, followed by Central Luzon, 205,000; Central Visayas, 186,000; National Capital Region, 185,000; Davao, 181,000; Western Visayas, 173,000; Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, 134,000; Ilocos, 87,000; Northern Mindanao, 83,000; Caraga, 52,000; Soccsksargen, 51,000; Mimaropa, 44,000; Bicol, 26,000; and the Cordillera Administrative Region, 4,000.

“Only three regions suffered from employment losses. These are Cagayan Valley (42,000 jobs), Zamboanga Peninsula (27,000) and Eastern Visayas (13,000),” Baldoz said.

By worker class, new wage and salary workers topped the field with 909,000, followed by those who are self-employed without any paid employees, 329,000; and employers in family-operated businesses, 114,000, among others.

Of the 1.65 million newly employed Filipinos, some 929,000 came from the services sector, followed by 374,000 in the industry sector, and 352,000 in the agriculture sector.–Jerry E. Esplanada