By Joann Santiago
MANILA, March 12 (PNA) — Malacanang on Thursday said more good governance-related reforms will be implemented to further solidify economic gains as well as strengthen the public’s trust on the government.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, in a statement, said reforms instituted by the Aquino administration since 2010 made the country more attractive to investors and resulted to “a virtuous cycle of empowerment and inclusive growth.”
”The new opportunities generated by these investments have resulted in not just more jobs but also more meaningful livelihoods for our citizens, as indicated by the lower underemployment rate,” he said.
This after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported the results of the January 2015 Labor Force Survey, which showed that employment rate in the country rose to 93.4 percent in January 2015, up by 2.8 percent year-on-year.
Lacierda said about 1.04 million workers were added to the labor force last year, fourfold higher than the 281,000 increase in the previous year.
The PSA said employment in all classes of workers increased except in family-operated businesses.
It also said that underemployment fell to 17.5 percent as of last January compared to the 19.5 percent same period in the previous year.
The report did not include Region 8 given the destruction brought about by Typhoon Yolanda in November 2013.
Lacierda said that “amid concerns about increased global volatility and slower growth, the Philippines has continued to buck the trend and surpass expectations.”
”Rest assured that the Aquino administration remains committed to pursuing even more growth for the country and to making sure that this translates to real benefits for the Filipino people,” he said.
”Moving forward, let us collectively work toward further entrenching our good governance reforms and making permanent the gains we have achieved,” he added. (PNA)