By Kris M. Crismundo
MANILA, March 17 (PNA) — A total of 37.45 million Filipinos were employed in January 2015, or 1.04 million more than the 36.4 million employed in the same month last year, latest Labor Force Survey (LFS) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shows.
PSA statistics show that majority of jobs during the first month of this year came from the services sector.
According to PSA, 54.6 percent of the over 37.45 million employed are working in services sector; 29.5 percent in agriculture; and 15.9 percent are in industries.
Among sectors, the agriculture sector had the highest poverty incidence, according to previous data of PSA.
Economists, including from the World Bank as well as Philippine Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, noted that jobs in manufacturing sector will promote inclusive growth — among the topmost agenda of the Aquino administration.
Though providing large number of employment in the country, jobs in services sector require higher level of skills.
The January 2015 LFS noted that 45 percent of about 2.64 jobless population only had secondary level as their highest educational attainment; 34 percent are high school graduates while 11 percent are undergraduates.
But secondary-level skills, mostly, are not enough to get jobs in the services sector, particularly the booming sector of business process outsourcing (BPO).
On the other hand, manufacturing sector can absorb jobless individuals with high school as their highest level of education attained.
Manufacturing is also a labor-intensive sector.
Manufacturing Jobs Increasing
Meanwhile, total approved investments for the full-year of 2014 rose to Php 756 billion from Php 754 billion in 2013, PSA’s National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) data showed.
Manufacturing sector secured second largest investment or a quarter of total approved investments last year amounting to Php 186 billion.
These investments increased job creation in the sector by 35 percent.
PSA-NSCB noted that projected jobs in the manufacturing sector brought by investments in 2014 reached 86,941 while job creation from approved investments in 2013 were pegged at 64,416. Firms registered only in seven investment promotion agencies (IPAs) in the country attracted these jobs.
But job creation in services sector remains fast. PSA-NSCB data also show that in real estate activities alone, around 100,179 jobs are projected to be created by investments in IPAs. Administrative and support service activities are expected to create 56,354 jobs.
Attracting Investments For Job Generation
With only 15 months left for the current administration to push its agenda, Balisacan, who is also the director general of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), pushed for reforms critical for attracting investments, employment generation, and inclusive growth.
Balisacan cited that cutting down cost of doing business, pushing for competition law, and strengthening social protection will improve the business climate in the country.
“We must reduce further the cost of doing business. While both domestic and foreign businesses remain optimistic, business prospects in 2015 are conservative. To address this and ensure a stable business environment, there is a pressing need to address infrastructure bottlenecks, port congestion, and power woes,” he said during the Socioeconomic Report 2014 held last week.
“We should strengthen support for the passage of anti-trust or competition law to improve the country’s business climate and competitiveness. This will encourage firms to innovate and improve the quality of goods and services that they provide,” he further said.
“We need to ensure that there is a strengthened and reliable social protection in place so that people and businesses will have the confidence to adjust to changes brought about by various reforms being implemented,” added Balisacan. (PNA)