Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda (Facebook)

It's as good as full employment 

Economist-solon Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda gave this glowing assessment of the country’s latest unemployment figures, which are at their lowest in almost 20 years. 

"As far as economics goes, a 3.1 percent unemployment rate is as good as full employment," Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means. said in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 7. 

"This jobs report confirms that the Philippines is the fastest growing economy in the region for 2023. This could have been even brighter, if government spending only caught up to the rest of the economy last year," he said. 

According to Salceda, the year 2023--President Marcos' first full year in office--created some 1.5 million jobs, including some 44,000 manufacturing jobs, and some 777,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector. 

"The President’s policies and his signaling have restored confidence in the private sector. Business expectations are upbeat and more or less where it was prior to the pandemic. The production index in November 2023, just before the jobs survey would have been conducted, was also the highest it had ever been since the pandemic," he said. 

"All in all, it seems that the private sector–especially industry–views this administration as a government they can work well with–and has reflected it in their appetite to hire new workers," added the Bicolano. 

Salceda said the industry sector grew by 869,000 jobs year-on-year, "a sign that businesses in capital-intensive sectors are digging in and producing more'. 

The agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors grew by a combined 555,000 jobs, he noted. 

Marcos took over the reigns in Malacañang on June 30, 2022.