A nationwide survey of 178,820 households found that 2.59 million people were unemployed or out of business, which is up sharply from 1.95 million in June, the Philippine Statistics Authority recently reported.
The surge drove the unemployment rate to 5.3 percent, from 3.7 percent a month earlier. That is the worst since June 2022, when the country was still recovering from the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa blamed the spike on the late-July monsoon rains, which inundated roads and fields.
Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan warned that the government must “intensify efforts to enhance climate resilience and improve workforce agility” if the labor market is to be future-proofed, or even just water-proofed.
The grim unemployment picture comes as the government is in the midst of a corruption scandal in its flood control projects, which highlights how the combination of climate disasters and poor governance are affecting the regular folk.
Mapa noted that the job losses were concentrated in “weather sensitive” industries. Agriculture posted the steepest year-on-year decline at 1.38 million, followed by retail (-897,000), fishing (-173,000), and construction (-147,000).
Adding worry is the rise of the underemployment rate, which rose to 14.8 percent and is the highest in two years. It tracks the share of employed individuals seeking additional hours or income, which is an indication of the poor quality of available jobs.
The dependence of the country’s unemployment statistics on the climate and weather is an indication of the weakness of the labor market. How can it provide sustainable employment and proper livelihoods when rains are enough to render hundreds of thousands suddenly unemployed? This situation gives our government lots of opportunities for improvement, which we can only hope are being addressed in a holistic manner, from education all the way to employment, and beyond.*
