Govt should address job losses in agri, manufacturing — IBON
Govt should address job losses in agri, manufacturing — IBON
By IBON Media
Research group IBON said that the rise in employment and decline in unemployment is seemingly welcome after the worsening job generation in the past four consecutive labor force rounds. But this should not be taken at face value because of alarming underlying trends. This includes job losses in the production sectors that the Duterte administration is failing to address, said the group.
The Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) reported an increase in the number of employed by 1.3 million in April 2019. Labor force participation also increased by almost 1.3 million in the same period. The number of unemployed declined by 74,000 while the number of underemployed fell by 1.2 million.
IBON noted that job contraction in production sectors show the domestic economy is weakening with government’s continued shift away from agriculture and industry towards low value-added and low-paying services. Agricultural employment dropped even further by 376,000 to its lowest in the past three decades. Employment in manufacturing fell by 101,000 to contract by the largest amount since the 189,000 fall in 2008.
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