Central Visayas unemployment rate drops to 4.1%
While unemployment in the country inched up in the latest Labor Force Survey (LFS), Central Visayas managed to keep its unemployment figures relatively low.
In a report released yesterday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the unemployment rate in Central Visayas for October 2017 was at 4.1 percent, from 5.1 percent a year ago.
This is equivalent to roughly 136,000 jobless individuals in the region, from 143,000 a year ago.
Meanwhile, unemployment rate in the country slightly increased, from 5.0 percent in October 2017, higher than 4.7 percent recorded in the same month last year.
In other words, 2.2 million Filipinos are jobless, inching up from two million a year earlier.
On the other hand, employment rate in the Philippines likewise eased a bit in October to 95.0 percent (41.6 million) from last year’s 95.3 percent (41.7 million).
In Central Visayas, employment rate was slightly higher at 95.9 percent (3.2 million employed) from last year’s 94.9 percent (2.7 million).
Overall, the services sector generated more than half of the jobs (57 percent) during the period, followed by agriculture (25 percent), and industry (18.1 percent).
While the region has better unemployment and employment figures, underemployment was relatively higher than the national average, at 19.6 percent.
Underemployment rate, or “the proportion of employed persons but still seeking for more work or longer working hours,” averaged approximately 15.9 percent nationwide, down from 18.0 percent registered in the past year.
In a separate statement, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) emphasized the decline in underemployment, said to be the lowest in more than a decade.
“The lower underemployment rate and the higher proportion of wage and salary workers indicate improvement in the quality of employment in the country,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said. The underemployment rate represents an estimated 893,000 less underemployed workers.
“Regular conduct of job fairs and provision of livelihood assistance have contributed to the improvement of underemployment, especially in areas outside of the National Capital Region. This is a good indicator that our efforts in the lagging regions are starting to take effect,” Pernia said. /