GOVPH

The Agency Budget Notes (ABN) on the Department of Labor and Employment contributes to the making of more informed reviews and deliberation of the proposed budget of the Department submitted to Congress. The ABN provides budget-related information on agency plans and programs, physical accomplishments and financial management of prior year’s appropriations.  

The President submitted the FY2021 Proposed National Budget at a time of great uncertainty. The economy is in recession, unemployment rate is up to about 10% in the July 2020 Labor Force Survey, involuntary hunger is on the rise2, and the public health threat of the COVID-19 pandemic looms large. Recognizing the heavy blow delivered by the pandemic, the President declared in the FY 2021 Budget Message that the P4.5 trillion National Expenditure Program will sustain government efforts to effectively respond to and recover from the crisis. The 2021 budget will be re-oriented towards containing the spread of COVID-19 and mitigating its effects, and restarting the economy to create jobs and attract investments without losing sight of fundamental priorities—poverty alleviation, investments in health and education, and economic stabilization.

Even prior to the pandemic, the youth aged 15 to 24 years registered relatively higher unemployment rates compared to other age brackets. This problem was magnified during the pandemic as the youth were employed in the most affected sectors—retail, services, and tourism. This paper looks into the problem of youth unemployment. Current policies and programs are analyzed to possibly identify gaps that will help improve intervention. Policy proposals are also presented to help reduce youth unemployment in the country.

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In 2016, the Philippine labor situation, in terms of employment and unemployment slightly improved from 2015. The number of persons 15 years and older, or those of working age in the country was higher in 2016 than in 2015. Of the 68.1 million Filipinos in the age group, 63.4% entered the labor force.

Among regions, the highest number of persons 15 years and older in 2016 were observed in Region IV-A at 9.3 million, followed by the NCR at 8.8 million.

The labor force participation rate (LFPR), or the percentage of persons 15 years old and over who joined the labor force, went down in most regions in 2016 except in the NCR, Regions III, VI and IX where it increased. During the same period, the highest LFPR was recorded in Region VII at 66.7%, while ARMM had the lowest rate at 53.1%. >>read complete document

There is an estimated 3.9 million unemployed Filipinos in January 2021, which translates to an unemployment rate of 8.7% based on the Labor Force Survey Report of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The country posted a 6.9% unemployment rate in July 2021, the lowest since the global pandemic in early 2020, according to the July 2021 Labor Force Survey (LFS) report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). This translated to about 3.1 million unemployed Filipinos aged 15 years and older.