Labor in Crisis
Amid slip in unemployment, Filipino households remain poor
By John Paul Cristobal
Filipinos continue to bear the brunt of the country’s economic setbacks despite the government’s claim of an “improved” labor market.
The latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) logged a marginal decrease in the country’s unemployment rate, falling from 4.8% in February last year to 3.5% the same month this year. Amid this slip, it fell short of the government’s annual target of 500,000 job generation as outlined in the Labor and Employment Plan (LEP) 2023–2028, adding only 154,000 employed Filipinos a year after February 2023.
Notably, in a poll conducted by OCTA Research, four in every 10 Filipino families considered themselves poor in the first quarter of the year. Amid ballooning prices of goods, only 36% of the actual family living wage across the country is met by the set minimum wage.
What the figures say
In February, the employment rate rose to 96.5% from 95.2% in the same month of the previous year while the number of unemployed Filipinos dropped to 1.8 million.
Meanwhile, the number of underemployed Filipinos, or those who have jobs, but receive fewer hours or lower pay, receded to 12.4% last February from 12.9% last year.
Construction was among the top five sub-sectors to have added jobs the highest on a year-to-year basis, registering an increase of 470,000 jobs. This was followed by the transportation and storage sub-sector with 444,000 additional jobs.
Conversely, the agriculture and forest, and fishing and aquaculture sub-sectors recorded the highest annual job losses with more than 1.3 million farmers and fishermen losing their jobs.
Unlivable minimum wage
OCTA’s survey from March 11–14 revealed that approximately 11.1 million Filipino families considered themselves poor since the beginning of 2024. While more Filipinos are becoming employed, households struggle to keep themselves afloat both with the prevailing minimum wage and the high inflation rate in the country.
On April 5, the PSA reported that the country’s overall inflation rose by 3.7% in March from 3.4%in February. Food inflation ballooned to 5.7% in March from 4.8% in February.
Although the Senate has recently approved a P100 wage hike to all private sectors, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) stressed that this is inadequate for workers’ daily needs amid the skyrocketing prices of goods. From the past years, labor groups have long called for a P750 national minimum wage.
According to IBON Foundation, the average amount needed by a family of five to provide for the cost of living across the country is P1,207, while the average minimum wage is only P440, resulting in a daily wage gap of P762. This does not reach half the amount of the average family living wage.
The National Capital Region (NCR) has the highest minimum wage at P610 while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has the lowest at P361 only. The minimum wage in NCR only accounts for 51% of the livable family wage. While the BARMM’s minimum wage is just 18% of its family living wage.
Unimproved improvements
Although there were reported improvements in the shown economic data, the increase in the number of Filipinos who were given jobs does not reach half of the implied annual target.
Farmers and fisherfolk were also severely affected by the pronounced decrease in employment. They remain living below the poverty threshold, being affected also by other issues such the intensified attacks on the West Philippine Sea, land aggression, and corporate mining. According to IBON, this is ‘notorious for temporary, irregular and informal work.’
“Millions of hectares of land planted with staples, grains, and food crops, as well as indigenous lands, and public lands, were grabbed and converted into plantations, extractive mining projects, and farms devoted to export cash crops,” Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said.
Moreover, the think tank affirmed a weak job creation because of the decrease in the labor force participation rate from 66.6% to 64.8%. This suggests that the decrease in the unemployment rate is likely because Filipinos have stopped looking for work and are dropping out of the labor force because there are no jobs to be found.
“Looking at employment, wage and poverty figures in their entirety, the so-called gains in the labor market are lackluster and are clearly not translating into gainful employment where Filipinos make enough to live on,” IBON added. ▼
