The results of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) non-commissioned survey released on Monday, Dec. 13, showed that the number of jobless adult Filipinos was slightly down in the third quarter of 2021.
"The national Social Weather Survey of September 12-16, 2021, found adult joblessness at 24.8 percent of the adult labor force," SWS said in a statement. The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.
"This is 2.8 points below the 27.6 percent in June 2021. It is 12.6 points below the record-high 37.4 percent average of 2020, but 5.0 points above the 19.8 percent average of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic," it added.
The estimated numbers of jobless are 11.9 million in September 2021 and 13.5 million in June 2021.
SWS pointed out that the resulting 26.1 percent average for the first three quarters of 2021 is less than for 2020 but has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
It defines the labor force as adults, 18 years and above, presently with a job plus those looking for a job.
Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate is the proportion of adults in the labor force.
The September 2021 survey found the labor force participation rate at 68 percent, or an estimated 48.2 million. SWS said it was 69.1 percent, or an estimated 48.9 million, in June 2021.
It explained that the jobless consist of those who voluntarily left their old jobs, are seeking jobs for the first time, or lost their jobs due to economic circumstances beyond their control.
"Joblessness reached a catastrophic level of 45.5 percent in July 2020. It eased to 39.5 percent in September 2020, 27.3 percent in November 2020, and 25.8 percent in May 2021. It bounced to 27.6 percent in June 2021 before easing to 24.8 percent in September 2021," SWS said.
Joblessness falls in all areas except in Visayas
Adult joblessness was highest in Metro Manila at 34 percent, followed by Balance Luzon at 27 percent, the Visayas at 23 percent, and Mindanao at 16 percent.
"The 2.8-point decline in the national joblessness rate between June 2021 to September 2021 was due to decreases of 7.3 points in Metro Manila, 3.4 points in Balance Luzon, and 2.8 points in Mindanao, combined with an increase of 1.4 points in the Visayas," SWS said.
It added that joblessness also fell among women, from 38.3 percent in June 2021 to 32.3 percent in September 2021, while it hardly changed among men, moving from 19.8 percent in June 2021 to 19.3 percent in September 2021.
"This brings the women-men joblessness gap to 13 points, down from 18 points in June 2021," SWS said.
Joblessness falls among the 35-year-olds-and-above, rises among those under 35
Compared to June 2021, SWS said that joblessness fell among the 35-to-44-year-olds from 23.8 percent to 16 percent.
It also fell among those 45 years old and above from 22.4 percent to 15.6 percent.
However, it rose among the 18-to-24-year-olds from 49.3 percent to 51.5 percent, and among the 25-to-34-year-olds from 31 percent to 33.9 percent.
"As in past surveys, the joblessness rate remains highest among the 18-24-year-olds among all age groups," SWS said.
Furthermore, joblessness fell in rural areas, from 25.3 percent in June 2021 to 20 percent in September 2021, while it hardly changed in urban areas, moving from 30.7 percent in June 2021 to 30 percent in September 2021.
"This brings the urban-rural joblessness gap to 10 points. The urban-rural joblessness gap has been double-digit in only 10 out of 111 surveys since September 1993," it pointed out.