QUARANTINE restrictions continue to limit income opportunities for Filipino workers as reflected by the latest data on unemployment released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday, according to the country’s economic managers.
The PSA released the results of its first monthly Labor Force Survey indicating that unemployment rate in February rose to 8.8 percent from 8.7 percent in January. The increase was more pronounced in underemployment: 18.2 percent in February, from 16 percent in January.
Data showed 7.9 million Filipinos were underemployed in February 2021, or 1.3 million Filipinos more than the 6.6 million in January 2021.
“This [underemployment rate] indicates that income is limited due to quarantine restrictions,” said the joint statement released by Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado on Tuesday.
Underemployed persons, according to the PSA, are employed Filipinos who wish to have additional work hours in their present job or an additional job or have a new job with longer working hours.
PSA said visibly underemployed persons are those who work for less than 40 hours during the reference period and want additional hours of work.
Data also showed a decrease in the mean hours worked in a week by workers, at 38.9 hours in February 2021 from 39.3 hours in January 2021.
In January 2020, before the pandemic and the lockdown, the mean worked hours averaged 41.3 hours. As the pandemic peaked in April 2020, mean work hours dropped to 35 hours per week.
“Yes, this is reflected in the increase in underemployment rate. If a person is underemployed, [he] will have less income,” National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa told the BusinessMirror on Tuesday when asked if reduced working hours mean less income for workers.
On the average, if employees report to work regularly, average mean work hours reach 40 hours a week, former dean of the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations (Solair) Rene Ofreneo said.
However, Ofreneo said the hours spent at work could reach as much as 48 hours a week if employees report six days a week. This could include overtime work for employees.
PSA’s Mapa said subsectors where underemployment increased included wholesale and retail trade with 268,000 Filipinos becoming underemployed; agricultural and forestry, 250,000; and other service activities, 192,000.
“The quality of jobs remains to be a challenge as the under rate slightly increased to 18.2 percent from 16 percent in January 2021.
This also indicates that income is limited due to quarantine restrictions,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a statement.
Apart from the reduced income, Ofreneo flagged a need to check the labor force participation rate, still low despite an increase, compared to 2020.
PSA said the labor force participation rate in the Philippines increased to 63.5 percent in February 2021. This means only 47.3 million Filipinos aged 15 and over are in the labor force.
Based on the PSA data, labor force participation rate was at 41.1 million in April 2020. This meant only 33.8 million Filipinos were either employed, unemployed, and/or underemployed.
“That [February 2021 labor force participation] is still low because the labor force participation rate was very low last year,” Ofreneo said in Filipino, in a phone interview on Tuesday.
Apart from these, the PSA noted that 9.1 million persons experienced being laid off temporarily or permanently between March 2020 and February 2021.
A million of these workers or 11.1 percent are currently not in the Labor Force but experienced being laid off, while 1.2 million or 13.5 percent are currently unemployed but experienced being laid off.
Around 6.9 million or 75.4 percent of the total who were currently employed had experienced being laid off, according to PSA data.
“Essentially, people don’t care if it’s decent [work] or what. We have a joblessness problem,” Ofreneo quipped.
ECQ imperils gain
Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, meanwhile, said the improvement in labor force participation is a positive note on the February data. However, the reimposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) threatens this gain.
The group cited the need to look at how new labor entrants will fare given the state of the Philippine labor market. By May or June, the country will welcome new graduates who need to find jobs.
Ofreneo shared the same concern of finding jobs for these graduates in a few months.
“These latest employment numbers, therefore, demand serious attention and actual resolution as the government’s health and economic response can only be made effective and sustainable with the full participation of the greatest number of employed and healthy work force,” Nagkaisa Labor Coalition said.
Gains by sector
The economic managers said in terms of employment, these sectors showed the most improvement in job creation: i) services at 1.6 million, of which 1 million are from wholesale and retail trade, ii) agriculture at 259,000, and iii) industry at 46,000.
They said this trend signals rising economic activity. Over the past year, employment figures showed the sensitivity of the labor market to the level of community quarantines imposed to stop Covid-19.
The statement also explained that the LFS, done quarterly since 1987, is now conducted on a monthly basis starting February 2021, to yield timely data needed for urgent and responsive policy-making.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza
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