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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
Nearly three million Filipinos, led by college
graduates, were out of jobs as of April on a slumping domestic
economy during the first three months of 2008, the government
reported on Tuesday.
The economy, as measured by gross domestic
product (GDP), grew 5.2 percent from January to March, compared with
7.5 percent during the same period last year. GDP is the total value
of goods and services produced in a country in a year.
In its latest Labor Force survey, the National
Statistics Office said the number of jobless Filipinos stood at 2.9
million, higher by 200,000 than the 2.7 million recorded last year.
The unemployment rate in January to April 2008
was 8 percent. It was 7.4 percent during the same period in 2007.
Of the total 2.9 million unemployed Filipinos,
about 40 percent of them were college-level, and 14 percent
elementary-school level. Unemployed high-school level Filipinos
comprised 45.3 percent, with 32 percent of them high-school
graduates.
More males were unemployed, 62.5 percent, than
females, 37.5 percent. For every 10 unemployed Filipinos, five were
in the age group 15 to 24 and three, in the age group 25 to 34.
The statistics office said three regions
recorded double-digit unemployment rates, with Metro Manila
registering the highest at 13.8 percent. The two other regions were
Calabarzon (referring to the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas,
Rizal and Quezon) at 10.3 percent and Central Luzon at 10 percent.
Of the estimated 57.7-million population 15
years and over in April 2008, 36.4 million were in the labor force.
This number placed the participation rate in the labor force at 63.2
percent, lower than last year’s rate of 64.5 percent.
The total employed population as of April this
year numbered 33.5 million. Almost half or 49.6 percent of the
employed were in the services sector, 35.5 percent in the
agriculture sector and 14.9 percent in the industry sector.
Among the various occupation groups, laborers
and unskilled workers comprised the largest group, making up 32.6
percent of the total employed population in April 2008. Farmers,
forestry workers and fishermen ranked second with 17.3-percent share
of the total employed population.
Employed persons fall under any of three
categories: wage and salary workers, own-account workers and unpaid
family workers.
Of the total 33.5 million employed Filipinos,
more than half or 52.8 percent were wage and salary workers mostly
working for private establishments. The statistics office said wage
and salary workers are those who work for private households,
private establishments, the government and government corporations
and those who work with pay in own-family operated farm or business.
It added that those working for the government
or government corporations accounted for 8 percent of the total
employed and 4.7 percent were workers in private households. More
than one-third or 34.7 percent of the total employed persons were
own-account workers, with self-employed workers registering the
highest share, 30.1 percent, of the total number employed.
The statistics office said the number of unpaid
family workers were about 12.5 percent.
It added that the number of underemployed
persons as of April this year was estimated at 6.6 million or 19.8
percent of the total number employed, higher than last year’s 18.9
percent during the first four months of 2007.
The underemployed were found mostly in the
agriculture sector, registering at 46 percent, followed by the
services sector, 38.5 percent and the industry sector, 15.5 percent.
About 57.5 percent of the underemployed were
part-time workers or had been working for less than 40 hours a week.
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