The Philippine labor market is poised to rebound to its pre-pandemic level with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the recovery of businesses, an official said Wednesday.
Unemployment could settle back to the 5 percent mark next semester, Department of Labor and Employment Undersecretary Benjo Benavidez said.
Unemployment doubled to 10.3 percent in 2020 from 5.1 percent in 2019. It has since eased to 7.8 percent in 2021, data showed.
Underemployment meanwhile was at 15.9 percent in 2021 from 16.4 percent in 2020 and 13.8 percent in 2019.
“Barring any surge in COVID cases, we expect that next semester, we will recover the employment rates to pre-pandemic level. Since we are already opening the economy, we are expecting to rebound to the pre-pandemic level of employment and underemployment,” Benavidez said.
DOLE is also bringing back face-to-face job fairs with the most recent event featuring manufacturing and business process outsourcing jobs, he said.
When asked what the current administration’s legacy for the overseas Filipino workers would be, Benavidez said it would include the establishment of a department for migrant workers and an OF (overseas Filipino) bank.
For the next administration, the labor department should focus on the recovery of pandemic-hit sectors such as tourism, he said.
In February 2022, there were 3.13 million jobless Filipinos as the unemployment rate hit 6.4 percent.
