Fresh grads push PH unemployment to 2.38M in July 2024 — PSA

The number of unemployed Filipinos increased in July as millions of young individuals, who graduated from college or senior high school and entered the labor force, did not land jobs during the period, the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.

National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa said the number of jobless individuals, ages 15 and above, rose to 2.38 million in July.

This is higher than the 1.62 million unemployed persons recorded in June and 2.29 million jobless in July 2023.

As a percentage of 50.40 million Filipinos in the labor force, the number of jobless individuals translates to an unemployment rate of 4.7%, higher than the 3.1% joblessness rate in June.

Mapa attributed the increase in July to joblessness among the youth—ages 15 to 24—during the period, noting that many of the fresh graduates from college and senior high school were not absorbed by employers.

"Nakita namin [nitong] July kasi nag-graduate na ang nasa kolehiyo or K-12 at iba sa kanila ay 'di nakahanap ng trabaho (We've observed this July that those in college or K-12 already graduated but some of them did not find jobs)," the PSA chief said in a press conference.

In particular, the Statistics chief said that youth unemployment contributed 43% to the total jobless individuals in July.

During the month, 6.89 million young Filipinos entered the labor force, but 14.8% or 1.02 million of them were unemployed.

Moreover, Mapa said that several sectors were affected by weather disturbances, thus demand for employment was lower.

Nevertheless, the PSA chief said that employment demand will "bounce back naman pag pasok ng 'ber' months (bounce back when the 'ber' months come in)."

Employment

Consequently, the number of employed persons in July decreased to 47.70 million from 50.28 million in June, translating to an employment rate of 95.3% down from 96.9% month-on-month.

By broad industry group, the services sector continued as the top sector in terms of the number of employed persons with a share of 60.8% of the 47.70 million employed persons.

The agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 21.2% and 18% of the total number of employed persons, respectively.

The following five sub-sectors posted the highest annual decreases in the total number of employed persons:

• Manufacturing (-154,000)
• Professional, scientific and technical activities (-100,000)
• Information and communication (-76,000)
• Mining and quarrying (-36,000)
• Human health and social work activities (-27,000)

Wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons with 63.8% of the total number of employed persons in July.

This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 28.2% and unpaid family workers at 5.7%.

Employers in their own family-operated farm or business had the lowest share at 2.4% of the total number of employed persons during the period.

Among wage and salary workers, those employed in private establishments remained to have the highest share of 78.3% of the wage and salary workers or 49.9% of the total number of employed persons in July.

This was followed by those employed in government or government-controlled corporations with a share of 14.3% of the wage and salary workers or 9.1% of the total number employed individuals during the period.

Underemployment

The underemployment rate, meanwhile, stood at 12.1%, translating to 5.78 million of the 47.70 million employed individuals who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work.

In a separate statement, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the socioeconomic planning agency is finalizing the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Master Plan, which is envisioned as the nation's comprehensive and strategic framework for enhancing job opportunities and work skills for Filipinos.

Balisacan also underscored that fast-tracking infrastructure development in energy, logistics, and both physical and digital connectivity is essential for overcoming constraints to growth and business expansion.
 
"The swift enactment and implementation of the Konektadong Pinoy Bill, and the expansion of upskilling programs are crucial for advancing the country's digital transformation and harnessing opportunities presented by cutting-edge innovation," said the NEDA chief.

"The Marcos Administration is tirelessly working to attract high-quality investments to the country, enhancing the business climate and ensuring that all investment pledges are fulfilled. This, along with efforts to prepare the labor force for market absorption, gives us confidence that we will achieve our PDP targets," said Balisacan. — VDV, GMA Integrated News