Joblessness soars to 13.5-M in June — SWS

Passengers bound to their respective destination line up at EDSA carousel bus station in Caloocan City on March 17, 2021.

The STAR / Michael Varcas

MANILA, Philippines — The proportion of unemployed Filipinos went up in June, a new poll released Wednesday showed, painting a bleak economic picture amid prolonged pandemic lockdowns.

A June 23-36 Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey of 1,200 adults found that 27.6% of the country’s adult labor force are unemployed, higher by 1.8 percentage points compared to May’s reading of 25.8%. That figure translates to an estimated 13.5 million jobless Filipinos, up from 12.2 million in the preceding month.

To compare, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, which polled a bigger number of respondents for its labor force survey, showed the unemployment rate’s decline plateaued to 7.7% in June while quality of available jobs deteriorated.

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/business/2021/09/08/2125731/joblessness-soars-135-m-june-sws