Joblessness is 4 times idleness

In the latest SWS quarterly survey, more than one of every five adults (age 18+) had no job and was looking for a job (see “Third Quarter 2018 Social Weather Survey: Adult joblessness at 22.0%; 9.2% lost their jobs involuntarily; Net Optimism on job availability at High +24,” www.sws.org.ph, 11/10/18).

In the latest (July) Labor Force Survey, on the other hand, unemployment was only 5.4 percent, or one of every twenty persons in the labor force. The officially unemployed are persons age 15+ that are totally idle—meaning with less than one hour of paid work in the week before being surveyed—and looking for work.

The official definition of employment as non-idleness is, of course, most unrealistic (see “Realistic statistics on joblessness,” Opinion, 3/4/17). Workers don’t merely want to be busy or non-idle; what they truly want is to be paid adequately. This can be seen in the official statistic that 17.2 percent of the employed are looking for more work, or else different work.

This 17.2 percent of the employed amounts to 16.3 percent of the labor force that are underemployed, which, combined with the 5.4 percent idle unemployed, totals 21.7 percent un/underemployment of the labor force, which matches the SWS 22 percent joblessness rate very well.

SWS accepts whatever its respondents say as to whether they have “trabaho” (a job) or not. The survey does not ask how much time was spent at work or how much income was earned from it.  Respondents that answer “walang trabaho” (and are looking for it) are recorded as jobless, even if most likely they assist the family livelihood in whatever way they can.

Joblessness is very high, but has been falling in the last 10 years. The four-quarter average percentage jobless has been at least 20 since 2005. From that point, the average rose to a peak of 29.1 in 2009. It was 22.5 in 2010, 23.6 in 2011, 28.8 in 2012, 25.2 in 2013, 25.4 in 2014, 21.9 in 2015, 22.3 in 2016, and 19.8 in 2017. The average is now 21.1 for the first three quarters of 2018.

In September, involuntary joblessness was 9.2 percent. It was not the workers’ fault, but that of the economy, that 6.6 percent had their job contracts unrenewed, that 1.6 percent were laid off, and that 1.0 percent had employers that closed shop.

Those that voluntarily left previous jobs were 8.4 percent. Almost three of every four  that resigned were women. Half of the cases were changes in family circumstances, like marriage, childbirth, a death of a relative, or change of residence. One in four left due to low pay/benefits or the high cost of commuting. One in eight found the work too tiring or hazardous.

Another 4.4 percent jobless are first-time jobseekers. Theirs is a problem of excessive population growth.

The jobless ask for modest pay. When asked what salary they would accept if offered a job, the median response of the jobless, in September 2018, was P8,000 per month—a substantial increase from only P6,000 per month in December 2016 (see my 3/4/17 column), no doubt due to the inflation in cost of living.

The median asking monthly salary rates of the jobless in September, by area, are P16,000 in the National Capital Region, P8,000 in Balance Luzon, P7,800 in Visayas, and P6,000 in Mindanao.

By educational attainment, the median monthly asking salaries of the jobless, in September, are P15,000 among college graduates, P9,000 among those who finished high school but not college, P8,000 among elementary graduates who did not finish high school, and P4,000 among non-elementary graduates. These are very modest aspirations.

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