Villanueva: Continuous decline of PH unemployment rate a welcome development

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva on Friday, January 6 said the continuous decline of Philippine unemployment rate is a welcome development as the country begins the New Year.

“This shows that our hard work is paying off, especially since we have seen the downtrend in unemployment numbers starting August,” he said.

“Nevertheless, our work continues, as we welcome the estimated 1.5 million new entrants in the labor force. Especially concerning is the increasing underemployment rate from 6.67 million in October to 7.16 million in November,” he pointed out.

“For this reason, we are all the more pushing for a comprehensive National Employment Action Plan, which will take off from the work of the National Employment Recovery Strategy from the previous administration,” he added.

Villanueva revealed that the Senate committee hearing for this measure, Senate Bill No. 129, is set on January 24.

“We’re hopeful that through the help of our colleagues as well as our counterparts in the House of Representatives, we can pass it as soon as possible given that no less than President Bongbong Marcos has expressed support on the measure,” he explained.