By Leslie D. Venzon
MANILA, Sept. 10 (PNA) — Malacanang on Wednesday said the improvement in the country’s unemployment rate in July 2014 reflects continued signs of dynamism in the labor market amid robust economic growth.
Presidential Communication Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. was reacting to the July 2014 Labor Force Survey (LFS) indicating that the figures for employment, unemployment, underemployment and the labor force participation rate all improved during the period.
Citing the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Coloma said only data from Leyte province, not all Yolanda affected areas, was excluded.
“Most of identified respondents in sampling frame could not be located due to displacement,” he said.
Coloma said the same adjustment was made for July 2013 –exclusion of Leyte province— to make this year’s data comparable to last year.
”A new listing of families in the province has been conducted in July 2014 and this will be used to update the sampling frame. This will be reflected in the surveys rounds beginning January 2015,” he added.
The Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday that 1.06 million jobs were created over a year. This brought down the country’s unemployment rate to 6.7 percent in July this year from 7.3 percent last year. (PNA)