LOCAL jobs data will likely continue to improve in the coming months as holiday spending and preparations for the mid-term elections help create more job opportunities, an economist said.
“Local employment data could sustain its improving trend to among the best levels in nearly 20 years or since revised records started in 2005 amid further recovery of many businesses,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said in a Viber message on Wednesday, December 4.
Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the country’s employment rate further went up to 96.3 percent in September this year from 95.5 percent in September 2023.
The unemployment rate, on the other hand, dropped to 3.7 percent from 4.5 percent in September last year.
October 2024 labor force data will be released by the PSA today, December 6.
Ricafort said the seasonal increase in demand during the Christmas season would lead to more job opportunities.
“Christmas-related spending by consumers [is] among the largest, if not the biggest in a typical year,” he said.
Ricafort said the upcoming midterm elections in May next year will also help create more employment.
“Preparations for the 2025 midterm elections, such as increased government spending on infrastructure and other government projects, would also entail more jobs,” he said.
However, Ricafort underscored offsetting risk factors in terms of temporary work stoppages and any transitory supply chain disruptions caused by typhoons. (PNA)
