MANILA, PHILIPPINES: The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said that the recent lockdowns and quarantine contributed to the increase in the country’s unemployment numbers for August.
In its latest Labor Force Survey report on Thursday, September 30, about 3.88 million individuals aged 15 and up were unable to find work during the month.
This was higher compared to the 3.07 million jobless Filipinos in July.
The latest figure means that the country’s unemployment rate jumped to 8.1% in August compared to July’s 6.9%.
Metro Manila, the country’s main economic hub, and other nearby provinces were placed under the strictest form of lockdown before the end of July and August due to COVID-19 spike.
A total of 44.23 million Filipinos had work in August, for an employment rate of 91.9%, lower than July’s 93.1%.
The National Economic Development Authority projects that the country loses P105 billion every week of ECQ and affects over 400,000 jobs.
“We reiterate that the safe reopening of the economy, limiting restrictions to granular lockdowns, and accelerating the vaccination program are key to our recovery,” Duterte’s economic managers said in a joint statement.
