POVERTY a TREND: Unemployment

MANILA, Philippines? The International Labor Organization has warned the Philippines that the worst is not over in the employment front. Although the government claims it has reduced the unemployment rate through emergency employment measures, it does not mean that the worst has passed.


The report warns us of a W-shaped recovery. It is possible for the economy and employment to grow but the rate of growth is likely to slow or dip, so it is crucial to have job protection policies in place,? ILO country representative Linda Wirth said in a statement.


The United Nations agency said the Philippines and other countries should continue and expand their safety net programs. The financial crisis that led to record unemployment rate worldwide has shrunk incomes and rendered vulnerable women and youth.


The issue is not just open unemployment but vulnerable employment, underemployment and a rise in the number of working poor as income shrinks. We see workers living on the margin and at risk of falling further into poverty,? Wirth noted.


Wirth said many workers who lost their jobs have yet to find jobs again, even as governments talk of recovery in 2010. The Philippines? export sector was severely hit by the crisis.


Many workers who have lost their jobs in export-oriented industries cannot afford to remain unemployed and instead will take any form of employment in the informal sector to have some income, perhaps in farming or street vending,? said Wirth.


In the Philippines, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 7.5 percent in 2009. To cushion the effects of the crisis on the employment sector, the government set aside billions of pesos for infrasture projects that would contractually employ about 500,000 workers.


The number of workers in vulnerable employment in the South-East Asia Pacific region is estimated to have increased by up to 5 million since 2008, when the crisis was felt all over the world, according to ILO.


The regional unemployment rate rose by 5.6 percent in 2009, and is expected to remain steady in 2010, according to the ILO. The global unemployment rate rose to 6.6 percent in 2009, an increase of 0.9 percentage points over 2007.


The unemployment rate in the Philippines today is very alarming since it is increasing as time passes by. As our population grows higher, the number of graduates increases, and there are no enough jobs for them to be employed, then, poverty rate is still rising. Imagine, the unemployment data from the January 2009 Labor Force Survey confirms the country’s descent into greater joblessness due to the global crisis and accumulated domestic economic weaknesses.


According to the data of IBON Foundation Inc., a research group, there are now 4.3 million Filipinos who are jobless today. The IBON Foundation estimates that some 2.5% of the working age population, 15 years old and above are considered part of the labor force, which implies an additional 1.5 million jobless on top of the 2.9 million officially reported, for a total of roughly 4.3 million jobless. The number of jobless could be even much higher if, as is likely, labor force participation rates this year become bloated by even greater numbers of discouraged job-seekers.


The latest unemployment report underscores the deep problems of the economy: its weakened internal ability to grow, create jobs, provide incomes, and cope with the crisis. This also underscores the hazard of relying on export-oriented manufacturing instead of a solid and expanding base of domestic demand, such as would be immediately created by a strategy of genuine asset and wealth distribution. The country faces greater joblessness in the coming months, and the worst is yet to come especially with the government’s inadequate response to address the country’s severe unemployment.


Source: Unemployment