7.3 million Filipinos now jobless

Result of COVID-19 pandemic

Joblessness in the country registered its steepest rise on record in April, underscoring the depth of the economic crisis induced by the coronavirus on the income of many Filipinos.

A staggering 4.9 million jobs losses were recorded in April this year, bringing the country’s unemployment rate to an all-time high of 17.3 percent, equivalent to 7.3 million individuals.

The surge in unemployment rate, which touched at only 5.3 percent in April last year, was traced by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to job cuts in the labor intensive industries, which include casual workers who were under the "no work, no pay" scheme.

Workers in sectors of construction dropped by 1.4 million; accommodation and food services down 682,000; arts, entertainment and recreation fell 236,000; information and communication declined 183,000; and electricity, gas, stem and air conditioning supply decreased 47,000.

National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa explained the surge in unemployment rate was the effect of the devastation from the coronavirus pandemic that forced many businesses to reduce operations or shut down.

“This is a record high in the unemployment rate reflecting the effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) economic shutdown to the Philippine labor market,” Mapa said.

Double-digit unemployment rates were registered across all regions as the highest was seen in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 29.8 percent, followed by Central Luzon with 27.3 percent and Cordillera Administrative Region with 25.3 percent.

Unemployment rates in Metro Manila and southern Luzon were registered at 12.3 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively.

In mid-March, President Duterte ordered stringent lockdown measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 that already claimed nearly 1,000 lives with confirmed infections of over 20,000.

Amid fears of contracting the virus, the country’s labor force participation rate, which covers those 15 years and older, fell to a record 55.6 percent, the lowest in the history of Philippine labor market.

Filipinos with jobs declined to 82.3 percent of the 73.7 million labor market, equivalent to 33.8 million. This is a marked reduction from 94.9 percent in April last year.

Underemployed Filipinos also declined to 17.7 percent from 13.4 percent last year.

People also worked shorter hours, with the average down to 35 hours in April from 41.8 hours a year ago.

In the first-quarter, the Philippine economy declined by 0.2 percent, and the Duterte administration expects the economic contraction to be around minus 2.0 percent to minus 3.4 percent this year.