Increase in Labor Force, Insignificant

By Desiree May C. Diangson

An increase in growth rate of both total labor force and the employment of Filipino working population was revealed by the October 2001 survey of Philippine labor force. The said survey was conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) and was released last December 18, 2001.

Aside from the total labor force and employment, unemployment and the total Philippine population also increased, thus decreasing the significance of the labor force growth. The positive development in labor may be achieved if there is an increase in the employment side of the labor ratio (number of employed is to the number of unemployed). If both employment and unemployment increased at the same rate, this growth is said to be insignificant, but if the former outrun the latter, development in employment is achieved.

According to the survey, the total labor force participating in the Philippine economy by October 2001 was 33.4 million, 30.1 or 90.2% of which are employed and the other 3.3 million or 9.8% were unemployed. As compared to the October 2000 survey, the employment ratio increased. This means that for every 100 Filipinos aged 15-64 years old, more are employed in the year 2001 than the year 2000. But the change is deemed insignificant because of its low value of about 0.03%.

Employment grew more on the services sector which include low-wage jobs of either small, medium or large-scale establishments. This was due to the flourishing economy of retail stores and less labor intensive jobs. Employment on this sector is 47% of the total participating labor force.

Similarly, unemployment rate also increased by 138,000 persons. Although its ratio with the employment decreased, the decrease was not high enough to have a great effect in the economy. In 2000, for every 30 Filipinos, 3 were unemployed; in 2001, for every 33 Filipinos, 3 were also unemployed. This means that employment did develop by 3 units, but this did not have much effect in the country's economy.

The number of underemployed or those who desire additional hours of work decreased by 533,000. These people may have opted not to work by two different reasons. Either their wages were good enough for their daily consumption and savings, or, they want to work more but lesser employers offer overtime loads.

We need more information in order to assess the Philippine economic status, but at the moment, we can conclude that this increase in labor force is insignificant and offers only a small part in the current Philippine economic growth. It can also be inferred that such increase in the survey doesn't necessarily mean positive growth. This positive growth is called economic devlopment. But we must not forget that economic development is very different from economic growth. Economic growth is attained simply by raising the numerical variable of facts (e.g. GNP, employment, total exports, etc.). For a country to be able to attain economic development, both the growth and proportions of these growths should possess positive results. The good numbers should go up faster and in large units, while the bad numbers should either remain, increase insignificantly, or if possible, decline.

Economic development raises the quality of life of the population and the quality of administration the government can offer. So far with these data and the realities of life we are facing everyday, we haven't achieved either of the two.