The unemployment rate worsened further to 8.1 percent in August as business establishments were forced to close, especially in Metro Manila as a new wave of lockdowns meant to contain the spread of COVID-19 washed over the metropolis.
The addition of thousands of fresh college graduates into the labor market for the first time also contributed to the highest unemployment rate since it hit 8.7 percent in April this year.
The August rate translated to 3.88 million Filipinos without work, up from 3.07 million in July, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said at a Palace briefing that job creation had been dependent on the quarantine restrictions being imposed by the government, noting that lockdowns temporarily stopped jobs while gradual easing resumed employment generation.
Citing National Economic Development Authority data, Chua said 69 percent of the country’s economy remained either under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions or, in the case of Metro Manila, alert level 4.
Regardless of what the wildly fluctuating classifications mean, 23.3 million workers are affected by the constant work disruptions.
The shift in strategy to granular lockdowns, along with a continued vaccination program, is hoped to return the jobs lost due to the pandemic.
Despite the dismal employment figures, Chua said that economic growth is resuming in the Philippines but notes that its sustainability would depend on several actions being taken in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and preventing surges.
Without a change in mindset from the people deciding the country’s strategy, every new surge will result in lockdowns that will shut businesses down and cause people to lose jobs and income. The latest unemployment figures are terrible but it is still possible for the situation to get even worse, especially if government fails to come up with sustainable solutions in the fight against COVID.
Those who have lost jobs and whose jobs are in the balance can only hope that government can finally turn things around after 18 months of trials and mostly errors.*
