“Reported unemployment doesn’t count jobless Filipinos who may have dropped out of the labor force after a long time of seeking but not finding work,” the think tank’s Executive Director Jose Enrique A. Africa said in a Viber message.
Job quality improved in December, as the underemployment rate, which represents employed Filipinos looking for more work, fell to 12.6%.“Amid a discouraging labor market, the decline in reported underemployment may not reflect more Filipinos content with their current work and earnings but rather Filipinos stopping to look for better work that is nowhere to be found,” Mr. Africa said.
“There is a need for sustained efforts to combat price pressures, particularly non-monetary government measures,” he said in a Viber message. “Accelerating inflation is really eating into the purchasing power of poor and middle-class Filipinos who have the least ability to absorb rising prices,” Mr. Africa said.