El Niño worsens joblessness in April

The country's unemployment rate went up in April as the El Niño phenomenon continued to affect jobs in the agriculture sector, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

- LOUELLA DESIDERIO

Preliminary results of the PSA's Labor Force Survey showed that the unemployment rate rose to four percent in April from 3.9 percent in March as the number of jobless Filipinos climbed to 2.04 million from two million a month ago. The number of unemployed in April, however, was lower than the 2.26 million recorded in April 2023.

In a press briefing, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the higher unemployment in April could be due to the dry spell, which affected the agriculture sector.

"This could be because of the impact of El Niño. Because the production was lower, you have that decrease also in employed," he said.

The latest unemployment rate, however, was lower than the 4.5 percent jobless rate in the same month last year.

The country's underemployment rate climbed to 14.6 percent in April from the previous month's 11 percent and the 12.9 percent in April 2023.

This translates to 7.04 million people who want to have additional hours of work or an additional job in April, higher than the 5.39 million underemployed Filipinos in March and the 6.2 million underemployed in April 2023.