Malacañang on Sunday claimed that the increase in the rate of joblessness based on the recent Social Weather Stations survey was “seasonal” because “students just recently graduated.”
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Malacañang was expecting more optimism over the availability of jobs after President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law waiving government fees for the documents needed for employment.
Panelo made his statement after a Social Weather Stations survey showed that the net optimism on job availability rose to an “excellent” +43 in June 2019, six points higher than the “very high” +37 in March 2019.
“We expect this level of optimism to grow further especially with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s signing into law Republic Act 11261, popularly known as the First-Time Jobseekers Assistance Act, last May 2019, Panelo said.
The SWS survey showed that the adult joblessness rate in June reached 20.7 percent or about 9.8 million of the adult labor force”•one percent higher than the 19.7 percent recorded in March.
“We attribute this uptick as seasonal since the data gathering was conducted when students just recently graduated from their universities or colleges and started looking for employment, with SWS including in the figure those seeking jobs for the first time, Panelo said.
The survey was conducted from June 22 to 26 using personal interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide with a margin error of ±3 percent.
Despite the minimal increase in the joblessness rate, the survey found that 55 percent of the respondents were optimistic about job availability in the next 12 months.
Meanwhile, 22 percent of the respondents said there would be no change in the number of jobs available while 12 percent believed there would be fewer jobs.
The remaining 11 percent were ambivalent.
The SWS considers this net optimism on job availability as excellent and at a record-high at +43.
The SWS survey was not commissioned and was conducted on its own initiative, the polling firm said. With PNA