Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz
MANILA, Philippines鈥擳he administration simply cannot keep up with the growing demand for jobs.
This was the straightforward answer given by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz Thursday for why 鈥渏obless growth鈥� has continued to hound the three-year-old Aquino administration.
In a briefing in Malaca帽ang, Baldoz admitted the demand for jobs had overtaken the job creation efforts of the government.
She explained, however, that jobless growth was not an entirely accurate description of the failure of the robust economy since 2010 to create jobs and a stable working environment for the labor force.
She took exception to the media鈥檚 use of 鈥渏obless growth鈥� to describe the performance of the economy.
Baldoz cited data from the Labor Force Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority that showed the Aquino administration had created jobs, albeit way short of what was expected of the government by the swelling number of job seekers.
The latest Labor Force Survey was forwarded to her office on Tuesday, Baldoz said.
It listed the government鈥檚 job-creation numbers as follows: In 2010, a 2.8-percent increase in employment (974,000 additional jobs); 2011, 3.2 percent (1.157 million); 2012, 1.1 percent (408,000); 2013, 0.8 percent (317,000); and the first quarter of 2014, 0.8 percent (283,000).
Baldoz said the unemployment rate was 鈥渟teady鈥� but 鈥渋t continues to be a big challenge to whoever sits in government.鈥�
This, she explained, was 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 a draw鈥攖wo percent enter the (labor) force (annually), two percent (of jobs) are also created annually.鈥�
Underemployment problem
Baldoz also acknowledged the problem of underemployment.
鈥淲e have a problem with the unemployed, but we also have a problem with the underemployed because they are employed but are underpaid,鈥� said Baldoz, adding:
鈥淥ne out of five employed is underemployed, and (the number of) underemployed is twice that of the unemployed. These figures fluctuate on a quarterly basis.鈥�
Baldoz also noted the problem of youth unemployment, which she said was marked by a 鈥渧ery slow school-to-work transition.鈥�
Citing a study by the Asian Development Bank, she said: 鈥淚t takes one year for a college graduate to find his first job and two years to find a regular job. For high school (graduates), three years to get his first job and four years to find a regular job.鈥�
She said the government was taking into consideration 鈥渇actors influencing both the length and the quality of the school-to-work transition鈥� such as educational attainment.
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鈥楽teady鈥� unemployment a challenge to gov鈥檛 鈥� Baldoz