Filipino youth jobless rate dropped in 2012 - ILO report

MANILA, Philippines - The unemployment rate among the youth in the Philippines dropped slightly in 2012, according to a recent report published by Geneva-based International Labour Organization.

The jobless rate among young Filipinos decreased to 16 percent in the second quarter of 2012 from the 16.6 percent posted in the same period in 2011. Unemployment rates among young men went down more rapidly during the same period, with the jobless rate falling by 3.2 percentage points compared with the 2.1 percentage points for young women.

The global report said two thirds of the working age youth in some developing countries are either jobless or underemployed.

“The waste of economic potential in developing economies is staggering. For an overwhelming number of young people this means a job does not necessarily equal a livelihood,” Sara Elder, co-author of the report and research specialist for the ILO Youth Employment Programme said.

The report added that the global economic and jobs crisis in 2008 caused part-time work to become an increasingly significant part of the labor market adjustment for the Filipino youth.

"In the Philippines, youth aged 15‐24 saw a decrease in unemployment from  18.6 percent in April 2008 to 17.3 percent in April 2009. During that one‐year period, however, the share of youth working part‐time (less  than 30 hours per week) increased notably  from  26.6 percent to 32 percent. Following a subsequent fall in part‐time employment in 2010 and 2011, youth part‐time employment again spiked in 2012 at 33.2 percent, an increase of 2.5 million workers," the report said.

It added that while part-time employment was higher among Filipino men than women, the increase in the part-time employment rate since 2008 has been higher among the female youth (8.6 percentage points) compared to their male counterparts (5.5 percentage points).