WV’s bullish economy paints rosy picture for labor
ILOILO City – The labor sector in Western Visayas can look forward to a better job market with the 5.9 percent growth rate of the region’s economy in 2021, “coming from a bleak situation” back in 2020.
“The year 2021, based on the positive GRDP (gross regional domestic product) of 5.9 percent, paints a rosy picture at least for Region 6,” said National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) regional director Meylene Rosales.
The economy last year slowly reopened. The regional director cited the tourism sector for instance, which showed improved job generation from the “joblessness” state.
Based on the region’s economic performance, the services sector which is composed among others of service establishments rebounded by six percent and contributed 3.5 percentage points to the 5.9 percent growth.
“This is a good prospect for our workers,” said Rosales.
Nelida Amolar, OIC regional director of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), said based on their data the region is slowly reaching the pre- pandemic employment rate.
“With the help of the tourismrelated industries and the construction industry, I know that it will continue. It’s a good outlook for our labor force,” Amolar said.
The performance of the construction industry rebounds by 13.1 percent after declining to 17.8 percent in 2020.
The accommodation and food services also grew by 16.7 percent from the negative 59.5 percent growth rate in 2020.
Rosales citing data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), said the employment rate last year increased by 1.3 percentage points or 93.3 percent from 92.1 percent in 2020 while the unemployment declined by 15.1 percent.
T h e n u m b e r o f establishments that retrenched workers was also lower by .03 percent at 987 while there was a substantial decrease in the number of establishments that stopped operations at 110 against the 204 establishments in 2020.
The underemployment rate, however, was high at 105 percent, which means that while they have jobs, they need additional work to earn enough to be able to provide for their needs.