PHILIPPINES UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Unemployment Rate in Philippines increased to 7.10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012
from 6.80 percent in the third quarter of 2012. Unemployment Rate in Philippines is reported
by the The National Statistics Office (NSO). Historically, from 1994 until 2012, Philippines
Unemployment Rate averaged 9.11 Percent reaching an all time high of 13.90 Percent in
March of 2000 and a record low of 6.30 Percent in September of 2007. In Philippines, the
unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage
of the labour force. This page includes a chart with historical data for Philippines
Unemployment Rate.

PHILIPPINES
UNEMPLOYMENT
RATE
UP
TO
Philippines
National
Statistics
Office
|
joana.taborda@tradingeconomics.com | 3/15/2013 9:33:27 AM

7.1%
Joana

JANUARY
Taborda
|

IN

In Philippines, the unemployment rate rose to 7.1 percent in January of 2013, from 6.8
percent in October of 2012. The employment rate is estimated at 92.9 percent, from 93.2
percent recorded last quarter.
The results of the January 2013 Labor Force Survey revealed that there were approximately
37.94 million employed persons in January 2013. This figure translates to an employment rate
of 92.9 percent, which is similar to the employment rate reported in January 2012 (92.8
percent). Among the regions, Cagayan Valley (96.7 percent), and Zamboanga Peninsula (96.6
percent) had the highest employment rate. The National Capital Region recorded the lowest
employment rate at 90.5 percent.
The population aged 15 years and over was estimated at 63.7 million in January 2013. Out of
this estimate, 40.8 million persons were in the labor force, or were either employed or
unemployed. These figures resulted in a labor force participation rate of 64.1 percent, which
is similar to the labor force participation rate recorded in January 2012 (64.2 percent).
Northern Mindanao had the highest labor force participation rate among the regions, with
68.5 percent, while Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao had the lowest labor force
participation rate with 58.1 percent.
Of the estimated 37.94 million employed persons in January 2013, majority (54.1 percent)
were working in the services sector. Among the workers in this sector, those engaged in
wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles comprised the highest
percentage (18.9 percent of the total employed).
Those who worked in the agriculture sector comprised the second largest group making up
30.4 percent of the total employed while workers in the industry sector made up the smallest
group registering 15.5 percent of the total employed. Workers in the industry sector were
mostly in the manufacturing and construction sub-sectors, comprising 8.3 percent and 6.0

percent, respectively, of the total employed.

Among the major occupation groups, laborers and unskilled workers constituted the largest
group making up 32.8 percent of the total employed in January 2013. Farmers, forestry
workers and fishermen were the second largest group comprising 12.7 percent of the total
employed.
The percentage of the wage and salary workers to the total employed had increased to 60.2
percent in January 2013 from 55.2 percent in January 2012. The percentage shares to the total
employed of the self-employed and of those working without pay in own family-operated
farm or business had decreased correspondingly. Of the total employed persons in January
2013, 65.1 percent were full time workers, while 33.9 percent were part-time workers. By
comparison, in January 2012, full-time workers comprised 62.1 percent while part-time
workers made up 36.7 percent.
The estimated number of underemployed persons in January 2013 was 7.93 million, placing
the underemployment rate at 20.9 percent of the employed population. In comparison, in
January 2012, the underemployed was estimated at 7.02 million comprising 18.8 percent of
the total employed.
The unemployment rate in January 2013 was estimated at 7.1 percent, which is similar to the
rate reported in January 2012 (7.2 percent). Unemployment rate was highest in National
Capital Region at 9.5 percent and lowest in Cagayan Valley at 3.3 percent. Among the
unemployed, 63.6 percent were males. Almost half (49.3%) of the unemployed were aged 15
to 24 years.
By educational attainment, one-third or 33.7 percent of the unemployed were high school
graduates, 13.1 percent were college undergraduates, while 16.9 percent were college
graduates.

VIETNAM UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Unemployment Rate in Vietnam decreased to 1.81 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 from
2.06 percent in the third quarter of 2012. Unemployment Rate in Vietnam is reported by the
General Statistics Office of Vietnam. Historically, from 1998 until 2012, Vietnam
Unemployment Rate averaged 2.52 Percent reaching an all time high of 4.50 Percent in
December of 1998 and a record low of 1.81 Percent in December of 2012. In Vietnam, the
unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage
of the labour force. This page includes a chart with historical data for Vietnam Unemployment
Rate.

UNEMPLOYMENT

RATE |

Notes

The unemployment rate can be defined as the number of people actively looking for a job
divided by the labour force. Changes in unemployment depend mostly on inflows made up of
non-employed people starting to look for jobs, of employed people who lose their jobs and
look for new ones and of people who stop looking for employment.

BRUNEI UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Unemployment Rate in Brunei decreased to 2.60 percent in 2011 from 2.67 percent in 2010.
Unemployment Rate in Brunei is reported by the Department of Economic Planning and
Development, Brunei. Historically, from 1995 until 2011, Brunei Unemployment Rate
averaged 4.1 Percent reaching an all time high of 7.2 Percent in December of 2001 and a
record low of 2.6 Percent in December of 2011. In Brunei, the unemployment rate measures
the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force. This page
includes a chart with historical data for Unemployment Rate in Brunei.

UNEMPLOYMENT

RATE |

Notes

The unemployment rate can be defined as the number of people actively looking for a job
divided by the labour force. Changes in unemployment depend mostly on inflows made up of
non-employed people starting to look for jobs, of employed people who lose their jobs and
look for new ones and of people who stop looking for employment.
Despite strong economic growth, the unemployment rate in the Philippines remains the
highest in Southeast Asia. The government hopes to create employment by drawing in more
investments.

PHOTOS

VIDEOSspite strong economic growth, the unemployment rate in the Philippines

remains the highest in Southeast Asia.

The government admits it has not been able to meet its target of creating one million jobs a
year, and now hopes to create employment by drawing in more investments.
Vivian Atienza, a 40-year-old single mother, will soon leave the Philippines to work as a
domestic worker in Kuwait.
She said that if she had a choice, she would rather stay and find work in the Philippines,
instead of leaving her seven-year-old son behind.
But after being jobless for six months, she decided to try her luck abroad.
She said: "I can't find any job here. I can only work as a household help because I did not
finish schooling. Aside from that, domestic workers here can only earn US$60 but in Kuwait,
I can earn as much as US$200.
"That is why even if it is hard, I need to go abroad to be able to feed my son and send him to
school. I don't want to leave him but I can't find any job here."
Despite the country's high economic growth, more and more Filipinos are still finding it hard
to find local jobs. That is why thousands of Filipinos can be seen lining up at the Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration to apply for jobs abroad.
The Philippine economy grew at a better-than-expected 6. 6 per cent in 2012, yet
unemployment, which rose to 7.1 per cent in January, remains the highest in Southeast Asia.
Analysts believe the number of jobless Filipinos is higher, and that the country needs to create
a stronger industrial base to create more jobs.
Sonny Africa, executive director of the Ibon Foundation, said: "Right now, the Philippines is
facing its worst unemployment in its entire history. The reality is that the Philippines now has
at least 4.5 million unemployed Filipinos, the real unemployment rate is closer to 11 per cent.
"We have a structural problem, the economy is not being designed to create jobs. They are
focusing on low value added services, they are focusing on business process outsourcing, on
tourism, on creative industries. These are not industries that would create jobs at home."
The government admits that it has not been able to meet its target of one million jobs a year,
and hopes the latest Fitch Ratings upgrade can help generate more jobs for the country's
unemployed.
Nicon Fameronag, director of the Labor Communications Office, said: "We hope that more
foreign investments will come because it will lower the cost of borrowing money so that small
businesses who would like to expand, or entrepreneurs who would like to start a new
business, will find it easier to borrow money to start their businesses.

"A job is basically created by the private sector, so we hope (that with) more investments
coming (and) more businesses opening up, (this will lead to) more jobs (being) created in the
countryside and even in the urban areas."
The government said its Medium-Term Development Plans include a shift from a consumerled economy to an investment-led economy that will focus on job creation and inclusive
growth.

Vietnam unemployment rate nearly 2 pct: ILO survey

Last Updated: Saturday, December 22, 2012 04:05:00

Nearly one million people have remained unemployed in the last three quarters, accounting for some
1.88 percent of the countrys workforce, a survey by the International Labor Organization has found.
It was due to the economys failure to create enough jobs for new entrants and the existing jobless, the
organization said in a press release after doing the Labor Force Survey Report 2012 together with
Vietnams General Statistics Office.
Vietnam had 53.1 million people aged 15 and above in the workforce as of October 1, almost 70
percent of them in rural areas.
Some 47 percent of the unemployed were between 15 and 24.
Around 3.3 percent of the urban workforce was unemployed, while the rate was 1.4 percent in the
countryside.
Ho Chi Minh City recorded the highest rate with 3.9 percent. It was followed by the Mekong Delta
provinces and Hanoi which ranked second and third. The northern midlands and mountains had the
lowest rate of around 0.8 percent.
The number of workers employed in the foreign-invested and state sectors decreased by around 3
percent since the first quarter.
It increased in the non-state sector comprising of self-employed, household enterprises, private
enterprises, and cooperatives.
Not the whole

Speaking to online newspaper VnExpress, Nguyen Bich Lam, deputy chief of the General Statistics
Office, said: The economy was very troubled in 2012, but the unemployment figures are not as bad as
expected.
The figure remains virtually unchanged since 2006 and 2011, the news website said Friday.
But Lam said that the jobless rate only reflects part of the economys health, unlike in other countries
because the informal labor sector is growing.
The number of freelance workers is on the rise, going up from 34.6 percent in 2010 to 35.8 and 36.6 in
2011 and 2012.
Some economists have said that this factor makes the methodologies used in employment surveys,
including sampling, inaccurate, VnExpress reported.
The ILO release quotes the director general of the General Statistics Office, Do Thuc, as saying his
agency would produce a Labor Force Survey Report on a quarterly basis with ILO support from next
year, using internationally standardized methodologies and approaches.
Producing timely and quality labor statistics is vital for evidence-based policymaking, the ILO's
Vietnam country director, Gyorgy Sziraczki, said.

Unemployment rate up, management agencies keep silent in Vietnam

Jan 3rd, 2013 | By cawinfo | Category: Formal Economy

Email This Post

In 2008, when the national economy suffered from the global economic crisis and the
unemployment rate increased, MOLISA then suggested a series of policies to support
businesses and their workers.
In 2012, the situation seems to be more lamentable with the higher number of businesses
dissolved and higher number of workers getting redundant.
Being unemployed the problem of the whole society
Official reports showed that about one million workers have become redundant, since the
national economy, which is on the decrease, cannot create enough jobs.
Tran Van Gia from Tien Son district in the northern province of Bac Ninh has lost the job as a
worker of a construction company. However, misfortune never comes alone. He still has not
received salaries for the last seven months of working, while the company has not made any
commitments about the salary payment date.
Gia now works as a freelance porter at the Dong Xuan wholesale market in Hanoi, but his
income is not enough to feed him and his family.
Gia, like hundreds of thousands of other workers, cannot claim back salaries from employers,
have lost jobs and cannot enjoy the unemployment insurance allowance, because the
companies which they worked for did not pay social insurance to the social insurance
agencies.
The latest report by the International Labor Organisation and the General Statistics Office
showed that 1 million workers have become redundant so far this year. Especially, the

unemployment rate in cities has risen sharply to 3.3 percent, while it was 2 percent only in
2011.
Hanoi, one of the two biggest labor markets, has reported the sharp increase in the number of
unemployed workers who have come to declare their unemployment status.
Job center reported that about 4000 workers declared their unemployment a month in 2012.
However, experts believe that the figure does not truly reflect the real situation. A lot of other
workers have lost their jobs, but they cannot rely on the unemployment allowances, because
their companies did not pay social insurance premiums for them before.
MOLISA keeps silent
In 2009, following the proposal by MOLISA, the government decided to lend capital at the
interest rate of zero percent to the enterprises which had to cut down 30 percent of their
workers, or dismiss 100 workers and more. The loans were disbursed by the Vietnam
Development Bank, which helped enterprises pay salaries and social insurance.
In case the owners of the enterprises escaped to avoid their duties, the salaries to workers
were advanced by the State budget.
Meanwhile, nowadays, workers have to struggle to settle their problems, while there has been
no support from the labor agency in creating jobs and welfare.
In fact, the situation in 2008 was less serious than now. By the end of 2008, nearly 80,000
workers lost jobs, and 50,000 workers more lost jobs in the first quarter of 2009.
In September 2012, the Ministry of Finance and MOLISA submitted to the government the
suggested plan to support workers who lose jobs but cannot enjoy unemployment allowances,
under which local budgets would advance money to pay salaries to workers.
However, no policy has been set by the end of 2012.

BRUNIE
THE rate of unemployment in Brunei is most likely higher than the current number of
registered jobseekers as Brunei does not have statistics that accurately reflect unemployment,
said the Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports.
"The current rate that we keep on quoting is the statistics on jobseekers. The number of
jobseekers does not necessarily reflect unemployment," said Datin Hjh Adina Othman.
"There are a lot of people who are unemployed but they do not seek employment."
"The current number of people who are registered with the Labour Department 5,650 that's
not an unemployment figure. That's why when we say 3.7 per cent (of the population are
jobseekers) it is based on that figure. So my suspicion of course is that there's a lot more
(unemployed), ' she told The Brunei Times in a recent interview.
Commenting on a recent job drive for daily paid posts with the Public Works Department,
which saw over 14,000 locals filing applications, Datin Hjh Adina said that the overwhelming

interest may not necessarily reflect the level of unemployment among the populace but may
be indicative of other factors.
"It may reflect the people who want an upgrading in their status, they could be currently
labourers or whatever, so they go and apply there. But it's an indication that there's so many
people who want jobs and better jobs," she said.
The Deputy Minister said that hopefully the National Population and Housing Census 2011
will generate accurate statistics on unemployment. The census will compile the most
comprehensive population information to date through various demographic, social and
economic characteristics.
Datin Hjh Adina said there are many things to consider when measuring unemployment, such
as whether to include housewives.
"Housewives are they employed or unemployed? There's so many things you have to
consider. A housewife can be considered employed because she's looking after the family but
she's unpaid."
Statistics from the Department of Labour indicate that the number of jobseekers has decreased
from 7,300 in 2006 to 5,650 in 2010 yet the labour force has also increased from 181,700 to
198,800 in 2010.
The issue of unemployment was also brought up during the seventh session of the State
Legislative Council (LegCo) this year.
LegCo member Pehin Kapitan Lela Diraja Dato Paduka Goh King Chin suggested a central
body to tackle unemployment should be established considering the "considerable number of
registered young jobseekers".
The LegCo member said more research should be conducted to understand the problem, and
to get a "better database" of unemployment and manpower requirements.
"It is quite surprising that we have yet to conduct a nationwide study to find out the true
unemployment rate. By having more research, we can identify who are those unemployed and
why they are unemployed," he said last March.
The Brunei Times