Jobless rate of 7.7%

[hisuka]

Jobless rate rose to 7.7% in January

NSO reports ‘insignificant’ rise
By Ronnel Domingo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 09:26:00 03/17/2009

MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE 2) The unemployment rate in January rose by 0.3 percentage point to 7.7 percent in January, a change which the National Statistics Office in its latest Labor Force Survey described as "insignificant."

As of January, there were some 2.8 million unemployed. Data from the NSO showed that 37.1 million Filipinos had entered the labor force, of which 34.3 million got jobs.

Based on NSO's definition, unemployed people are those aged 15 years and over, who have no jobs or are not running a business and are actively looking for jobs but are unable to find any.

Unemployed also refers to those who, at the time of the survey, are not looking for jobs because they believe there are none available, or because of temporary disability or sickness or bad weather, or because they have pending job applications or interviews.

The country’s jobless rate climbed in January to the highest since April, and analysts said it would rise further as the country feels the impact of the financial crisis.

About 275,000 people lost their jobs since October and the latest quarterly report from the statistics office showed unemployment turning higher after falling last year.

It had dropped to 6.8 percent in October from 7.4 percent in July and 8.0 percent in April.

However, analysts said the data is not seasonally adjusted and they believe the actual rate could be understated.

"The actual data is very seasonal so you've always got to take it with a grain of salt," said Nicholas Bibby, regional economist and strategist at Barclays Capital.

"It is slightly up compared with what it was last year. This is understandable given the weakness that we are seeing coming through especially for the electronics sector," he said.

The Philippines’ jobless rate is the second highest among the biggest Southeast Asian economies, behind Indonesia, which reported its latest unemployment rate for August 2008 as 8.4 percent.

The unemployment rate in Thailand at the end of last year was 1.4 percent, below Singapore's 2.6 percent, Malaysia's 3.3 percent and Vietnam's urban reading of 4.65 percent.

In the Philippines, job losses and reduced work hours have been on the rise particularly in the semiconductor and electronics sector, which produce just over half of the country's exports revenues, as global demand shrank.

"Overall, I think the real unemployment rate should be higher than this," said Simon Wong, economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. "I would expect it to move higher for the rest of 2009."

About 210,000 were added to the number of underemployed, those who have jobs but want to work more, an increase of 3.5 percent from October, the government said.

The percentage of underemployed climbed to 18.2 percent of the total employed in January from 17.5 percent in October.

The government says that about a third of the 90-million population is poor, calculated as families of five living on less than the equivalent of $3 a day.

Of the 34.3 million people employed in January, more than half, or 51.2 percent, worked in services.

Farming was the second-biggest employer with 34.6 percent, with the rest working in the industry, particularly manufacturing.

makababangon pa kaya tayo?

[Hempire]

yes...pwede yan kaso hirap lng tlga.

---

*waving the hemp solution to all this mess* if only people would get over it already just like what happened to alcohol.

[Twin-Skies]

yes...pwede yan kaso hirap lng tlga.

---

*waving the hemp solution to all this mess* if only people would get over it already just like what happened to alcohol.

Dude, hemp and alcohol are just ways of avoiding the inevitable. They aggravate the situation, rather than help tackle it.

[maitreya]

...However, analysts said the data is not seasonally adjusted and they believe the actual rate could be understated...

The data is as of January 09, and a whole quarter is just about to pass. Some companies intentionally held some of their employees until around Feb to finish whatever work was left the previous year, or to give time for the companies to adjust for less workers. (Or workers could have been fired after Jan 09 if financial statements with negative feedback came in latter Dec 08.)

As such, I agree with the data being understated. Being not seasonally adjusted, the data encompasses a less possible range of values; it assumes an actual rate closer to its expected one (which relies on data prior to Jan 09).

makababangon pa kaya tayo?

Yup. We have skills, relatively cheap labor and smaller price of living, and a horde of people looking for jobs. Once companies have settled down and try to recover their losses, they'll look into outsourcing the work to a place that'll guarantee them quality work for a smaller price tag. Philippines is one of those places. But IMHO, no one's gonna get back on track any time soon. And, there're rumors/news/forecasts that says that Asia hasn't been fully hit by the financial crisis.

[Sforza]

yes...pwede yan kaso hirap lng tlga.

---

*waving the hemp solution to all this mess* if only people would get over it already just like what happened to alcohol.

Dude, hemp and alcohol are just ways of avoiding the inevitable. They aggravate the situation, rather than help tackle it.

I think he meant legalizing hemp then taxing the shit out of it, thus raising government spending and creating more jobs for the public sector. I'm all for that too

[Twin-Skies]

yes...pwede yan kaso hirap lng tlga.

---

*waving the hemp solution to all this mess* if only people would get over it already just like what happened to alcohol.

Dude, hemp and alcohol are just ways of avoiding the inevitable. They aggravate the situation, rather than help tackle it.

I think he meant legalizing hemp then taxing the shit out of it, thus raising government spending and creating more jobs for the public sector. I'm all for that too

Hmph. As if we don't have enough drug-related muggings and car accidents.

[Hempire]

yep, imagine all the jobs and new markets, stoners internet cafe, restaurants, new line of clothing, food - hemp milk, shampoo & soap- which i saw being sold in fort market2 grocery and how lol facepalm ironic that they had banners promoting to buy usa products. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE BOUT HEMP CLICK LINK ON MY SIG. Oh wait, see my sig, all the different usage of cannabis have a market right now but it is small and if HEMP/CANNABIS/MARIJUANA would be legalized, thoae existing markets would expand exponentially creating more jobs, and of course more people would be environmentallly conscious.....human civilization would once again have another rennaissance, and we would all sit in a circle and just be glad to be all alive in this tiny blue gem earth.......THE END! LOL

[maitreya]

Hemp leads to world peace?

[Grim]

I swear everytime Hemp posts it's comedy. Also,

stoners internet cafe

business opportunity right there.

[Hempire]

aha, i tell ya grim, with what i've come to know and realize as i draw closer to that eternal slumber i can't help but see this whole existence of ours as a cosmic joke, and it's a very good one!

[NiX]

LOL you sound like the Comedian.

[Shintetsu]

It just hit me, work is, well, just work.

Why don't we find opportunities other than employment? =/

[Serene]

Getting past initial interview IS an opportunity.

[maitreya]

It just hit me, work is, well, just work.

Why don't we find opportunities other than employment? =/

There's setting up a business, but the initial problems would be what kind, which market, and capital. And then there's providing service. But a common problem for both is finding customers willing to spend.

But people can go back to our roots and go agricultural again (rather than find desk jobs).

[Shintetsu]

Oo nga naman, if the whole world goes third world, you'll be rich!

I just have to say though, honestly, the Networking business category seems to be doing pretty well.

E.g., Lifemax. lol