Good prospects seen as jobless rate drops

DESPITE the slack in economic growth, Northern Mindanao continues to register remarkable performance in terms of employment opportunities as it posted the highest labor force participation rate nationwide.

Data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that in January this year, Region 10 registered the highest LFPR at 70.2 percent while the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) posted the lowest at 59.2 percent. In Central Visayas, the LFPR in the same month was estimated at 64.8 percent.

Labor force participation rate or LFPR is the proportion of the population ages 15-64 that is economically active. It refers to all people who supply labor for the production of goods and services during a specified period.

This is on top of the drop in unemployment rate nationwide which fell to 7.3 percent in January from 7.7 percent a year ago, when thousands lost their jobs as a result of the global financial crisis.

A total of 2.8 million people were without jobs in January compared with 2.9 million in January 2009, the agency says.

Around 38.8 million people were reported to have been in the labor force out of the estimated 60.2-million population aged 15 years and above in January 2010, the statistics office says.

That places the country’s month’s labor LFPR at 64.5 percent, up 1.2 percentage points from last year’s estimate of 63.3 percent.

Overall, the NSO reported that more than one-half or 52.4 percent worked in the services sector in January this year and that the bulk of increase in employment, 1.3 million, is in this sector, particularly in the wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles, and personal and household goods sub-sectors. Workers in agriculture accounted for 32.8 percent of the total employed. Only 14.8 percent of the total employed was in industry, with the manufacturing sub-sector making up 8.4% of the total employed.

Among the various occupation groups, employed persons were dominated by laborers and unskilled workers at 32.7 percent of the total employed persons in January. Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen were the second largest group, accounting for 15.4 percent of the total employed.

By class of work, more than half or 55.8 percent of the employed persons were wage and salary workers while more than one-third or 33.6 percent were own-account workers. The remaining 10.6 percent were unpaid family workers

“The Philippine labor market posted a strong performance amid the global economic crisis, the lingering impacts of the destructive tropical cyclones late last year, and the damage caused by the El Niño phenomenon in the second half of 2009,” National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) acting Director-General Augusto Santos said in a memorandum to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Meanwhile, the regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment here said Northern Mindanao has a lot of opportunities for employment, particularly in the business process outsourcing (BPO) and agri-industrial sectors.

It said call centers are flourishing in Cagayan de Oro City and producing employments at a remarkable rate.

The region is likewise ready to absorb a significant number of new graduates this year, it said.

Northern Mindanao is likewise regarded as a major agri-industrial center, with a number of agri-based industries providing employment to a large number of people, particularly in Bukidnon.

On the other hand, the export sector, one of the country’s main employers, recorded double-digit declines for more than a year as global demand slumped.

But economic indicators now point to a better-than-expected growth for the year as the country recovers from the global crisis.