Arya News - The labour group Sentro was reacting to the results of the latest labour force survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, which showed that the country’s unemployment rate rose to 5 percent in October this year from 3.9 percent in the same period last year.
MANILA – Labor group Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) on Wednesday expressed alarm over the higher unemployment rate in the country, which it said was “clearly linked” to the ongoing corruption scandal involving the government’s flood control projects.
“At a time when the economy should be expanding ahead of the Christmas season, unemployment has climbed to 5 percent—a level that signals distress, not growth,” the group said in a statement.
Sentro was reacting to the results of the latest labor force survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, which showed that the country’s unemployment rate rose to 5 percent in October this year from 3.9 percent in the same period last year.
This meant that 2.54 million Filipinos were unemployed as of October, compared to only 1.97 million last year.
READ: Philippine jobless rate jumps to 5% in October
“Even more alarming, underemployment has risen to 12 percent, pushing the labor underutilization rate to a troubling 17 percent. We are now on track to surpass last year’s underutilization rate—a clear sign that the economy is slipping, not recovering,” the labor group said.
“All this is happening while the labor force participation rate continues to slide from its 2023 levels—meaning more Filipinos are giving up on finding work altogether,” Sentro added.
The labor force participation rate this year was 63.6 percent, lower than the 64.4 percent recorded last year. Participation was also higher in 2023 at 64.9 percent and 64.7 percent in 2022.
Sentro noted that most of the jobs being created were in the services sector, where “many are contractual, precarious, and low-quality.” On the other hand, it lamented that “manufacturing—the backbone of any growing economy—is missing in action.”
“Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), our manufacturing hub, posted the lowest employment rate, and on a quarterly basis, manufacturing is nowhere to be found as a driver of jobs,” it pointed out.
READ: Unemployment dips at start of ‘Ber’ months
For the group, the worsening labor market situation “is not a coincidence.”
“This downturn is clearly linked to the economic slowdown triggered by the flood control corruption scandal, which stalled public infrastructure and dampened domestic consumption. Corruption doesn’t just steal funds—it steals jobs,” Sentro said.
The group urged the government to pursue a “wage-led growth” strategy by providing wage subsidies to “put purchasing power back in the hands of workers,” and stressed the need for a “robust public employment program” to provide full employment and climate-resilient jobs.
It added that the government must stop relying solely on the private sector to provide jobs, saying such an approach “has repeatedly failed, especially in moments of economic downturn like the one we are now facing.”
“When the private sector pulls back, the government must step in. Only the State can guarantee stable, dignified employment at scale,” Sentro said.