Employment climate still bleak under Aquino – KMU

By BULATLAT.COM

MANILA — “The government’s claims of a modest decrease in unemployment this April cannot hide the fact that the employment climate under President Noynoy Aquino remains bleak.”

This was how labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno reacted to the recently-released National Statistics Office study showing a slight decrease in unemployment in the country.

The NSO reported that the unemployment rate dropped to 7.2% this April 2011 from 7.4% in the previous quarter and 8.0% in April 2010.

“Assuming that these data are correct and undoctored, the changes in the employment figures are still minor and showing fundamentally unchanged employment conditions,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson.

The labor center blamed the Aquino government’s insistence in adopting free market-centered policies, not developing the country’s industries and agriculture, and continuing merely to beg foreign investors to do business in the country, as the reasons why job prospects in the country remain bleak.

Beyond the minimal decrease in unemployment rate, the KMU highlighted the rise in underemployment rate from 17.8% last year to 19.4% this April, saying it showed an increase in people who want additional work.

“The almost 2% increase in underemployment rate shows the poor quality of available jobs in the country. With meager wages, no job security and close to zero rights, many workers really want to find other or additional jobs,” Labog said.

“Because the Aquino government continues to beg foreign investors to invest in the country, it has perpetuated the previous governments’ policy of pressing down wages, eliminating job security, and violating workers’ rights,” he added.

The labor leader also slammed the persistence of a worrisome trend in the employment situation in the country. The NSO study showed that 51.7% of the country’s workers are in the service sector, 33.0% are in agriculture, and 15.3% are in the industry sector.

“Even without looking at the quality of jobs in the agriculture and industry sectors, the fact that half of the total employed are in the service sector is not a good indication of the employment situation. It shows that the government has really failed to develop the country’s agriculture and industries,” Labog said.

“Only a pro-people development of the country’s industries and agriculture can provide decent employment to Filipinos in a sustainable way. Such a development, however, is farthest from the mind of the Aquino government,” he added. (https://www.bulatlat.org)

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  1. · Edit

    SIR:

    Magandang araw po sir. Sumulat po ako para humingi po sana ng tulong na magka-roon ako ng hanap-buhay. Sana po matulungan ninyo ako.

    Ako po si ERNESTO A. SABIDO, binata at kasalukuyan naninirahan dito sa lunsod ng Tuguegarao , Cagayan Valley. Member po ako ng Handicapables Association of Tuguegarao city, suffering from orthopedic impairment due to poliomyelitis. Ito rin po ang dahilan kaya limitado lang ang puwede kong gawin sa paghahanap-buhay. Sa kasalukuyan wala po akong permanenting pinagkaka-kitaan. May earned units po ako ng Master in Business Admin sa University of Cagayan Valley sa tulong na rin ng kapatid ko sa ama pero hindi ko natapos dahil sa kakulangan ng pondo.

    Nais ko po sana humingi ng tulong sa inyo na maka-pasok ako sa alin man ahensiya ng gobyerno kung saan po ako kwalipikado at kahit saan po ako ma- assign tatanggapin ko po ang mahalaga may matatag akong hanap-buhay na sasandalan ko at mabuhay ng normal. May civil service eligibility po ako. Nag file po ako ng application sa Human Rights Commission region-2 kay regional Director Atty. Jimmy Baliga this summer lang po.

    Nagpapa-salamat po ako at umaasa na sana matutulungan ninyo ako. Alam ko po na nagbibigay po kayo ng tulong sa mga nangangailangan.Tatanawin ko po malaking utang na loob at asahan po na magiging mabuti po akong mamamayan. Pagpalain po kayo ng ating Poong Maykapal.

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