DOLE: Job generation improving

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s employment situation continues to improve with more than 800,000 jobs generated this year, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III yesterday said a total of 41.16 million Filipinos nationwide are currently employed.

The figure is two percent higher than the 40.334 million employed people during the same period last year.

The employment growth was driven by the booming construction industry, which increased by 328,000 this year, Bello said.

He said this year’s unemployment rate decreased to 5.3 percent from the previous year’s 5.7 percent.

Bello said underemployment has remained a challenge for the DOLE, with the number of underemployed growing by 229,000 to a  total of 6.73 million this year.

Meanwhile, the labor department has suspended inspection activities in work places to prevent inspectors from soliciting Christmas gifts from erring employers.

Bello said all DOLE regional offices stopped conducting labor inspection since Saturday and this will continue until Jan. 15.

“It is our duty to ensure the continued effectiveness of DOLE’s enforcement of labor laws and standards and uphold the integrity of our labor inspection activities, especially this season with heightened chances of bribery and suspicions,” he said.

The one-month suspension period will be used for the disposition of all pending labor cases and preparation of the agency’s law compliance monitoring program next year.

Bello said complaint and technical safety inspections and occupational safety and health standards investigations as well as urgent inspections of establishments directed by the labor secretary are not covered by the suspension.

The DOLE has inspected 134,263 establishments employing 8.306 million workers this year.