Unemployment rate worsens in October

By Pierce Oel A. Montalvo

The country’s jobless rate rose to a two-month high in October, hampered by the onslaught of typhoons that month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.

Preliminary data from the PSA’s Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed the jobless rate at 3.9% in October, higher than the 3.7% rate in the previous month but lower than the 4.2% a year ago.

This translated to 1.97 million jobless Filipinos in October, higher than the 1.89 million in the previous month but lower than the 2.09 million estimate for October last year.

Unemployment rate averaged 4% as of end-October, down from 4.6% in the same period last year.

Job quality also deteriorated as underemployment rate reached 12.6% in October, higher than 11.9% last month and 11.7% a year ago.

Underemployment rate averaged 12.1% in the 10 months to October, down from 12.5% seen in January to October 2023.

Meanwhile, October employment rate inched down to 96.1% in October, lower than the 96.3% seen in September but higher than the 95.8% in the same period a year ago.

This was equivalent to 48.16 million employed Filipinos, down by 1.71 million from 49.87 million in September, but up 369,000 from 47.79 million in October2023.

The services sector remained the top employer in October with an employment rate of 61%, followed by agriculture (21.2%) and industry (17.9%).

The average Filipino employee worked for 41 hours per week, higher than the 40.3 hours in September but down from the 41.2 hours averaged in October 2023.

Three consecutive typhoons have affected the labor force’s participation in October, said PSA Undersecretary and National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa.

“It started during the first few days of October. Julian, and then there were Kristine and Leon. So, yes, the typhoons in a way contributed to how our countrymen participated in the labor market,” Mr. Mapa said in a news briefing in mixed English and Filipino.

Agricultural damage due to Typhoon Krathon (Julian) was estimated at P607.38 million, a Department of Agriculture (DA) bulletin released on Oct. 7 showed.

Similarly, the combined effects of Tropical Storm Trami (Kristine) and Super Typhoon Kong-rey (Leon) costed P7.83 billion in damages to agriculture, according to data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

“The spate of typhoons that brought deaths and destruction of homes, livelihoods, agriculture and infrastructure started and unleashed its fury in the said period,” said Julius H. Cainglet, vice-president of the Federation of Free Workers, in a Viber message.

“Right now it’s uncontrollable super typhoons, but in a few months we should expect the other extreme — heat stress from too much heat as temperatures rise.”

Despite improved employment rates year on year, unfavorable weather conditions have led to job losses not only in the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector but also in many service and manufacturing industries, said University of Asia and the Pacific Senior Economist Cid L. Terosa, through email.

The fishing and aquaculture sub-sector lost the most employees in October, losing 213,000 workers year on year.

It was followed by wholesale and retail trade (down 212,000); agriculture and forestry (down 183,000), and manufacturing (down 123,000).

“Contractual workers in the trade and manufacturing industries had to be laid off because of work disruptions due to unfavorable weather conditions,” said Mr. Terosa.

“Right off, typhoons have the most direct impact on agriculture. But since not all manufacturing activities are insulated from the effects of climate change, employment in this sector is sure to suffer soon as well,” said Mr. Cainglet.

Both unemployment and underemployment have worsened at a time when the economy should be ramping up for the Christmas season, said Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa Secretary-General Josua T. Mata.

Mr. Mata said that wage and salary earners dropped from 63.9% to 63.8%, while self-employment grew from 27.4% to 27.7%

“High-value jobs in manufacturing continue to contract. Agriculture and fishing are also shedding jobs, likely due to the devastating impacts of extreme weather.”

Mr. Terosa also said many settled for jobs that would help them cope with losing regular good quality jobs, pushing up the underemployment rate.

Seasonal employment around consumption of products and services related to Christmas will contribute to a minute increase in employment, said Mr. Cainglet.

“The coming election season could provide temporary employment as well. The greater impact on employment will most likely happen by the second quarter of 2025,” Mr. Cainglet said.

Additionally, Mr. Terosa said that December labor data would probably show a modest improvement particularly in the underemployment rate.

“The flurry of business and commercial activities will most likely require additional part-time workers,” Mr. Terosa said.