Unemployment soars to 17.7 percent in April due to lockdown
MANILA – The Philippine Statistics Authority today revealed unemployment rose to 17.7 percent which accounts to 7.3 million unemployed Filipinos in the labor force in April 2020.
“This is a record high in the unemployment rate reflecting the effects of Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) economic shutdown to the Philippine labor market,” the PSA statement disclosed. The agency earlier reported that unemployment rate in January 20920 was 5.3 percent while in April 2019, it was placed at 5.1 percent.
Labor force participation rate among Filipinos 15t years and older is estimated at 55.6 percent in April 2020, said to be the lowest in the history of the Philippine labor market.
The employment rate in April 2020 fell to 82.3 percent from 94.7 percent in January 2020. In April 2019, it was reported at 94.9 percent. This easily translates to 33.8 million employed persons in April 2020 from a high of 41.8 million in April 2019. The average number of hours worked also dropped from 41.8 hours per week in April 2019 to 38.4 percent in April 2020.
Undersecretary Claire Dennis S. Mapa, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General said employed persons with job but not at work is reported at 38.4 percent or roughly 13.0 million of the total employed.
All regions reported double-digit unemployment rate with the highest unemployment rate was reported to be in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)which listed 29.8 percent followed by Region III or Central Luzon with 27.3 percent and Cordillera Administrative Region(CAR) 25.3 percent. (Melo M. Acuña)
Stranded workers painstakingly hoping to hitch a ride to their respective provinces two days after the lockdown was imposed. Most of them walked from their respective construction sites elsewhere to this bus terminal several kilometers away. This photo was taken march 18,2020 at Baliuag Transit terminal. (Melo M. Acuna(
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