MANILA – The return of tight quarantine rules in August barred more Filipinos from finding jobs, the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
National statistician Dennis Mapa reported on Thursday about 3.88 million individuals aged 15 and up were unable to find work during the month – climbing from the 3.07 million tallied in July.
The latest figure yielded a national unemployment rate of 8.1 percent, also worse than the 6.9 percent rate recorded the month prior.
Main economic hub Metro Manila shifted to general community quarantine (GCQ) “with heightened and additional restrictions” from July 30 to Aug. 5 in a bid to quash the increase in coronavirus disease 2019 cases.
The region then shifted to a two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period starting Aug. 6.
Other areas in the country were placed under different quarantine levels ranging from modified ECQ, GCQ, and modified GCQ.
“Kapag may ECQ, ang apektado talaga ay ang unemployment rate. Malaki ang impact ng ECQ, particularly ‘yung National Capital Region,” Mapa said during a virtual briefing.
The employment rate also dipped to 91.9 percent against July’s 93.1 percent, translating to 44.23 million out of 48.12 million individuals in the labor force were employed.
However, the figure in August was higher versus the 91.3 percent recorded in April.
Mapa also reported a drop in the underemployment rate, which stood at 14.7 percent. Underemployed Filipinos seeking more work hours or better job opportunities reached 6.48 million in August, down by 2.21 million from July’s 8.69 million.
Meanwhile, the country’s labor force improved to 48.12 million from 44.74 million in July – corresponding to a 63.6 percent labor force participation rate.(CNN)
